With concerns over oligarchy, mob rule, a breakdown of equal protection under the law, and the supremacy of citizens ‘ ability to decide the fate of the country, the US presidential election of 2024 was viewed as a crucial test for the country’s political system.
There is no justification for the United States to be immune from full falls throughout history. That fear frequently leads to a passing glib mention of the Greek democracy or the Roman Republic’s close.
But there’s a deeper story: States came into being much earlier in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean societies. And as we try to understand the issues and opportunities, we can use many more examples to guide our understanding.
A real state is a social system without king or focus political energy in any office, branch, or personal. With individual branches of government providing checks and balances, elected representatives represent people and influence decisions on their behalf. In the early days of nations, a far wider range of power structures emerged in contrast to the traditional republics.
Republikas gradually gained popularity as the international standard after World War I, and the majority of previous German colonies formally recognizing their independence in the following century. Nazi and communist countries, which centralized strength in people or ruling events, likewise reduced in quantity.
Despite their concentration of power, however, some fascist and socialist states claimed the title of republics, and while 149 countries out of 193 identify as republics now, much less retain democratic principles and mix them properly with politics. Considering the nations ‘ historical evolution, which ones are best suited to serve as the most resilient modern example?
In sparsely populated economic cultures, states require frequent meetings and assemblies, which makes it difficult to establish them, and empires typically concentrate power very greatly for self-rule. It was in smaller city-states, especially trade-focused people, where citizens may kind factions, exchange ideas, and control government decisions and rules for business.
Some of the earliest experiments with republican governance appeared in ancient Sumerian city-states ( 4500–2000 BC ), centered in modern-day Iraq. Kingships shared energy with royal families and groups, as well as with regular citizens, more as negative arbitrators than rulers. In Kish, residents may appoint a new monarch during catastrophes, while in Uruk, meetings of townsmen and elders had to accept big military decisions.
The Sumerian city-states fell to the Akkadian and Babylonian Empires by 1750 BC, but Phoenician city-states, emerging about 250 years afterward in what is now Lebanon, revived democratic principles. A trader class and citizen council were frequently tasked with a dynastic power in this country. Ancient records from the middle of the fourteenth century BC mention alliances and help requests from the “men of Arwad” and “elders of Irqata” as well as Egyptian records that show Ancient cities sending delegates to symbolize citizens more than monarchs.
By the 6th century BC, the Ancient city of Tyre had functioned for seven years without a king, governed rather under suffetes, or courts, elected for little words. In Chios, a “people’s council” allowed citizens to debate laws and hold officials accountable.
However, beginning in the 9th century BC and continuing over the next few centuries, Phoenician city-states were successively conquered or subjugated by the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and Macedonian Empires.
Like other civilizations, Phoenicians established colonies and trading posts. Carthage, founded by Tyre in 814 BC in modern Tunisia, grew into a powerful city-state with its own republican features.
The monarchy had been replaced by two elected suffetes from aristocratic families in the early 7th century BC. While younger merchants could gain influence and a popular assembly gave citizens the opportunity to voice their opinions on important decisions, they were governed alongside an aristocratic Senate. Additionally, religious and military leaders had a lot of power.
Republican ideals were n’t confined to Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean. In ancient texts, including the Maha Parinibbana Sutta, Indian republics called Gana-Sanghas were mentioned in 6th-century BC.
Some adopted republican styles of government, while others formed republican confederations, like Sumerian and Phoenician city-states, to make decisions collectively and protect against larger threats. The Indian republics were gradually absorbed by the Maurya Empire ( 321–185 BC ) and other entities.
Ancient Greek city-states also developed republican ideals. Although Parta was largely monarchical throughout the region, it still had a constitution and popular assembly as of 600 BC. Athens established a direct democracy in 507 BC, known as demokratia, meaning “people” and “rule”.
Greece’s slave-based economy allowed some citizens time to participate in politics, though this limited political fairness. In 431 BC, Attica, the region surrounding Athens, had an estimated population of 315, 000, of which only 172, 000 were citizens, and just 40, 000 male citizens could vote.
Still, Athens’s democratic system allowed these citizens to frequently debate, deliberate, and vote. The Council of Five Hundred, which was chosen annually by lot to draft laws and oversee administration, supervised them.
However, following Athens ‘ Golden Age, 4th century BC Greek critics like Plato and Aristotle and later historians like Polybius criticized the system for ineffectiveness and vulnerability to charismatic leaders, which sparked irrational policy decisions.
They emphasized balancing public, aristocracy, and monarchical roles to avoid the typical political cycle of chaos and order: first, a strong leader unites a restive society under a monarchy, which evolves into tyranny. It is overthrown and replaced by an aristocracy, which reduces into oligarchy. The cycle is resurrected by democracy after it eventually takes its place but turns into mob rule.
Invasions further weakened Greece’s republican and democratic systems, including in 338 BC, when Greece fell under the control of the Macedonian Empire, ending the independence of many city-states. Despite this, Greek republics created republican confederations to shield themselves from threats, including the nearby Roman Republic.
The term republic derives from the Roman res publica, meaning “public affairs”, emphasizing shared governance, civic participation, and checks and balances. Since its founding in 509 BC, the Roman Republic’s political structure had evolved considerably.
Two consuls were elected and held executive power, as opposed to an aristocratic senate, in Rome, where two tribunes were elected annually to represent the common citizens.
Romans were skeptical of Greek democracy, especially in Athens, due to its instability, infighting, and mob rule. Carthage’s republic sounded overly commercial and lacking in the civic fervor the Romans valued.
This loyalty was central to Rome’s military, staffed by a citizen army motivated by shared rewards. In contrast, Carthage’s strong, citizen-led navy protected trade routes, but its reliance on mercenaries for land campaigns made them costly and unpredictable.
The ability to rebel against Roman rule was diminished by these circumstances. By 146 BC, Rome defeated both Greece and Carthage, cementing its dominance and expanding political system. Polybius suggests that Rome’s success over Carthage was partially due to its powerful, aristocratic Senate, while Carthage’s policies were increasingly shaped by popular influence. He argued that the majority in Carthage favored the influence of the elites over Rome’s decisions.
Yet by this time, Rome was approaching its Late Republic phase. The scholar Harriet Flower’s research argues that the Roman Republic was n’t a single entity but a series of six republics, each with unique political characteristics. The idea of a single Roman Republic has also been criticized by some, dividing it into three distinct periods with changing power structures.
The Early Republic ( 509–367 BC ) was marked by tensions between patricians (aristocratic elites ) and plebeians ( common citizens ). Significant reforms were resulted from the fight for plebeian rights, including the establishment of tribunes, which were frequently elected by the Concilium Plebis to represent common interests.
During the Middle Republic ( 367–133 BC ), the Licinian-Sextian laws of 367 BC were passed to again alleviate tensions between patricians and plebeians, limiting patrician land ownership, providing debt relief for plebeians, and ensuring that at least one of the two consuls was a plebeian. However, political power increasingly concentrated in the Senate, undermining these reforms.
Rome’s military victories over rivals in the Late Republic, which occurred between 133 and 31 BC, coincided with the rise in the number of regular citizens serving in court, particularly jurors. Yet the republic was plagued by social conflict, corruption, and civil unrest.
Sulla’s march on Rome in 88 BC and his curtailing of the tribunes ‘ power exemplified rising instability. After, figures like Pompey in the’ 70s BC and Julius Caesar in 59 BC began consolidating power, further undermining republican values. In 27 BC, Augustus formally transitioned Rome into an empire, while maintaining the illusion of republican traditions.
By backing Augustus, supporting dictatorial powers, and reluctance to impose legal rules during times of crisis, Roman orator Cicero, a well-known proponent of the Republic, unintentionally contributed to its demise, highlighting the dangers of sacrificing republican ideals to manage unrest. For the next few centuries, republican ideals were largely sidelined.
Feudalism and monarchies spread throughout the former Yugoslavian Empire’s territories and peripheral areas after its collapse in 476 AD. This instability nonetheless allowed new republics to emerge, such as Venice, founded in 697 AD.
It maintained a 1, 100-year run as a republic through a political system that encouraged merchant participation and representation, shrewd diplomacy, social mobility, community cohesion, and an extensive trade network. In 1797, France finally conquered it.
During the Italian Renaissance ( 14th to 17th centuries ), urbanization, advancements in communication, and Enlightenment ideals enabled the rise of new city-states. Republican systems were established by merchant classes and other groups as alternatives to European monarchies elsewhere.
However, they were ultimately overthrown by empires, partly because they were unable to take advantage of the expanding Atlantic trade routes, which had diminished the importance of the Mediterranean.
Republics were not confined to Europe. When Chinese settlers recruited by local sultans for mining formed companies to protect their interests, the Kongsi Republics in modern-day Malaysia, particularly the Lanfang Republic, were established.
They eventually developed into autonomous regions with elected leaders and various levels of democratic control. The Lanfang Republic was eventually overthrown by Dutch colonial forces in 1884, with the remainder being absorbed by treaties or militarily overthrown by the end of the century.
The large-scale republican state resurrected following the founding of the United States. The US officially became a constitutional republic in 1787, attempting to end the monarchy while avoiding a tumultuous direct democracy.
The founding fathers established a mixed system, balancing the right to the vote and protecting the aristocracy with the right to demand the government’s consent ( though it was only for white male landowners ). Similar discussions in post-Revolutionary France after 1789 followed the ongoing debates over constitutional amendments and democracy expansion.
Today, many republics exist, but their authenticity and stability can be compromised. Being conquered imposes outside authority, while others pursue foreign expansion themselves, centralizing control and subjugating other territories.
Republics such as those in 16th century Netherlands, 17th century England, and 18th century US and France grew into empires or reverted to monarchies, adapting in ways whose lessons are still relevant today. These expansionist policies, often justified as essential for wealth and security, led to the abandonment of certain republican and democratic principles.
Republics can also shift toward authoritarianism, with modern policymakers perceiving more open democratic systems as unstable and vulnerable to manipulation.
In recent years, China and Russia have seen reductions in public accountability, civil liberties, meaningful political participation, and concentrations of power behind Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.
In North Korea, power has been concentrated in the leader’s office since its founding, with leadership passed within the Kim family. Since the 1990s, there has been a dynasty under the Aliyev family in Azerbaijan, with concerns that Turkmenistan may follow.
Countries with strong presidential systems, common in the Americas, risk concentrating power in the executive branch. Fixed terms limit the removal of unpopular leaders, since, unlike in parliamentary democracies, no” confidence vote” mechanism exists for crisis situations. Partisan loyalty can also weaken checks and balances, and coups can be common.
For representation and collective decision-making, alliances and federations of Greek city-states, such as the Achaean and Lycian Leagues and the Native American Iroquois Confederacy, influenced concepts like the US Constitution and European Union ( EU).
The statement that the US is” a republic, not a democracy” reflects the original aim to keep political power within the states rather than the federal government. However, authority has increasingly centralized in Washington, DC, reducing state sovereignty, tensions mirrored in the EU between individual states and Brussels.
The influence of billionaires and corporations on the political process, government corruption, and the decline of social mobility are also possible causes of political apathy and extremism. Social media platforms offer a greater level of political participation, but they are becoming more vulnerable to disinformation from big tech and political actors, which opens up new ways for democracies to veer away from mob rule.
Countries still navigating the governance structures in their own contexts reflect the historical diversity of republics today. Kazakhstan, initially authoritarian, has seen some shift toward a more balanced system with a more powerful parliament following popular protests in 2022, though it remains less democratic.
Similarly, Singapore, often described as authoritarian, is still considered a republic due to some checks and balances, maintaining a blend of controlled leadership and political structure.
An informed and engaged citizenry, supported by a strong economic base, is essential for a successful republic. Citizens must feel the benefits of their system, and these must endure through fair elections, the rule of law, and due process. Wide-ranging trade networks and adaptable alliances are essential to successful foreign policy, as is a strong military and avoiding military overreach or falling into the trap of foreign conquest.
Historically, empire and monarchy have been more common than republics, shaping world order through hierarchical and anarchic systems. Republikas can govern more democratically by cooperating in a manner akin to that of ancient confederations, which is intended to support the sovereignty and equality of nations.
The Achaean League and Lycian League consisted of states with varying political systems cooperating within a loose, republican-style confederation. Countries can work together under common principles and gain a voice in the global system through modern blocs like the EU, ASEAN, and the African Union.
Direct democracy has meanwhile increased in domestic politics in the 2010s as more popular referendums on legal and constitutional issues have been conducted around the world, especially in Europe.
Direct democracy is becoming more evident at regional and local levels, even though larger republics like the US, Germany, and India still largely avoid national-level votes on important issues. Due to the rushed nature of ballot initiatives in states like California and Arizona, which give little time for meaningful discussion, deliberation and integration still suffer.
These referendums have recently become more popular and offered a substitute for traditional political processes thanks to modern citizen assemblies, which are based on those that were founded thousands of years ago.
They have influenced major policy changes, such as climate policies in France to abortion laws in Ireland, with assemblies, typically convened by legislative bodies in partnership with nonprofits, designed to reflect demographics. While they have led to concrete policy shifts, some recommendations have not been adopted, with lawmakers citing the importance of expert-led decision-making.
With the US election behind us, reassessing republican ideals, both domestically and globally, is crucial. How the GOP implements policies will ease or amplify concerns as it potentially takes control of all three branches of government in a divided country.
The US’s ability to influence the world and implement its influence in accordance with democratic principles will determine the country’s future.
John P Ruehl is an Australian-American journalist living in Washington, DC, and a world affairs correspondent for the Independent Media Institute. He is a contributor to several foreign affairs publications, and his book, Budget Superpower: How Russia Challenges the West With an Economy Smaller Than Texas ‘, was published in December 2022.
Human Bridges provided the Independent Media Institute with permission to republish this article.