The Slow March to Democracy - 13th to 18th Century England
Enough of these philosophers! If philosophers could shape the world, then what need would there be for democracies? From wrecking prisons in France to filling prisons in India, it is the masses who said no to tyranny and yes to the rule of justice and humanity. Indeed, we have discussed thinkers like Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau over the last few articles, who used the imaginary ploy of State of Nature to reveal abstract concepts of social contract , natural rights and general will . However, the modern democracy that we see, with millions of people, a constitution, a cabinet, a parliament, courts & elections, never came out of some mythical " State of Nature ". All of these wonderful innovations, while inspired by those concepts, and being as revolutionary as the steam engine or electricity, were brought into force by men and women in the steady course of history. Secondly, in our journey from early Greece to medieval France, we have focused only on Europe, as if...