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Period: 507 BCE to 307 BCE
Ancient Greek Democracy
• A form of direct democracy that all male citizens have to take part in government but not women and slaves. It had 3 institutions:
• Ekklesia: wrote laws and dictated foreign policy
• Boule: representatives from the ten Athenian tribes
• Ikasteria: the popular courts It formed the foundation of classical liberalism by putting the structure of government in place & implementing constitutional limits on them. It also granted the individuals, though not all, their rights in government -
Period: Jun 15, 1215 to Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
• a 13th-century document
• placed limits on royal authority, & elucidated that the monarch wasn’t above the law
• Most of the 63 clauses deal with administration of justice, & the detail of feudal rights & customs
It laid the fundamental rights for subjects of the king, including freedom from unlawful imprisonment. it was an important factor in the development of the rule of law. -
Period: 1350 to 1550
The Renaissance
Renaissance means ‘rebirth’ in French.
Features of the Renaissance:
• Revival of Classical scholarship & values.
• Advocated evidence based thinking
• Decline of feudal system
• Growth of commerce
It contributed to development of classical liberalism as it encouraged rational thinking, rule of law, individual rights & freedoms & economic freedom by declining feudal system, encouraging commerce -
Period: 1450 to
Haudenosaunee Confederacy
• made up of 5 nations, intended to unite the nations and create a peaceful means of decision making
• Each nation maintains it own council & deals with its own internal affairs but allows the Grand Council to deal with issues affecting the nations within the confederacy
• Produced Great Law of Peace
• the oldest, participatory democracy and is believed to be a model for the American Constitution. It set the constitutional limits of each council member and the Grand Council -
Period: 1517 to
The Protestant Reformation
• schism from Catholic Church started by Martin Luther
• ended @ end of Thirty Years' War with Peace of Westphalia
• Pope had no clout over purgatory & Catholic doctrine of saints' merits wasn't in the Bible
• made doctrinal changes e.g. total reliance on Scripture & faith in Jesus, not works: only way to be saved
It put constitutional limits on pope and catholic church and enacted law which was the principals of the classical liberalism re: constitutional limits on government and rule of law. -
Period: to
Enlightenment
• The Age of Reason (acceptance of the power of human reason)
• The worth of the individual
• Natural and inalienable rights
• Democratic values
• Authority rests with the people, not the ruler -
Period: to
The Industrial Revolution
• The power of the market(economic freedom)
• Individual reward for individual initiative(Self-intrerest)
• Freedom to pursue personal wealth(individual rights & freedoms)
• Individual responsibility for success or failure(competition)
• Progress, inventiveness, innovation, efficiency(Private property) -
Period: to
The American Revolution
• The American Patriots rejected the authority of the British Parliament to tax them as they lacked representation in Parliament(individual rights & freedoms)
• They won independence from Great Britain, becoming U.S.A.(protection of civil liberties)
• They defeated the British in the American Revolutionary War in alliance with France & others(constitutional limits on government) -
Period: to
Changes to class system
• Result of Industrial Revolution
• A new class of factory owners, bankers, retailers & professionals arose(economic freedom)
• the aristocratic classes lost entitlement(Rule of law)
• farmers moved to cities to work in factories(self-intrerest)
• women gained entitlement(Individual rights & freedoms) -
Period: to
The French Revolution
• partially carried forward by Napoleon during the later expansion of the French Empire(Self-intrerest)
• overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, experienced violent periods of political turmoil(protection of civil liberties)
• ended in a dictatorship under Napoleon that rapidly brought many of its principles to Western Europe and beyond(Self-intrerest)