"It is wholly different from any other culture in the world"
The Iroquois seem to have had something similar.
Athens didn't just have assembly and random magistrates; it also had random council of 500 and large juries. It's interesting to imagine how they could have grown to encompass a larger polity, perhaps with random representatives from the colonies or Delian League members. And for Rome, tribunes of some sort from the provinces, to veto decisions regarding them.
Early India had republics of some sort, just as later India had charters, as you say. Semi-elected kingship seems fairly common around the world. The something special of Europe is perhaps more a coming together of elements, rather than the elements themselves being unique.
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Date: 2012-05-24 04:35 am (UTC)The Iroquois seem to have had something similar.
Athens didn't just have assembly and random magistrates; it also had random council of 500 and large juries. It's interesting to imagine how they could have grown to encompass a larger polity, perhaps with random representatives from the colonies or Delian League members. And for Rome, tribunes of some sort from the provinces, to veto decisions regarding them.
Early India had republics of some sort, just as later India had charters, as you say. Semi-elected kingship seems fairly common around the world. The something special of Europe is perhaps more a coming together of elements, rather than the elements themselves being unique.