What was the first democratic country in modern times?

Answer 1

I think the major question raised here is "what constitutes a Democracy?"

If by democracy, we trace the roots back to ancient Greece, then I believe the word itself becomes meaningless. Ancient Greece was a slave society with the majority of people being held in eternal bondage. So we can see from the beginning that it is important to be clear about what we mean: Just because some segment of the society is allowed to vote and the majority of those votes make policy, does not make a society a Democracy.

What constitutes a Democracy?

-Full participation of all adults in the decision making process.

-Full opportunity for all adults to reach any elected office.

This means that no one can be restricted from the political process for reasons of Race, Gender, Class Status, Religion, or Sexuality.

So there is quite a challenge in finding a Democracy, we will start first with the societies that gave women the right to vote and be elected to office.

The search for Democracy:

New Zealand: New Zealand gave women the right to vote in 1893 and then the right to run for parliament in 1905. However, other things prevented New Zealand from being a democracy as the European Government there was entirely Colonialist and could only exist because of the engineered genocide of the indigenous Maori people. New Zealand and many Maori tribal leaders signed treaties that legitimized the European Colony on the Island, however, this treaty was rejected by two thirds of the tribal leaders and the talks were held within the context of a genocide that cut the Maori population by three fourths in the course of only eighty years.

Australia: Australia granted women the right to vote in 1902 however, the same law that gave women the right to vote denied these rights the to the indigenous aboriginal population (women and men). This racism is not surprising given Australia's origin as a Colonialist country with a history of genocide much like New Zealand.

Finland: in 1906 Finland became the first major European nation to extend women the right to vote and to stand for election. However, in 1906, Finland was far from a democracy, as they were ruled from afar by the Czar of Russia. This went on until the February Revolution of 1917 when the Russians overthrew the Czar. This caused political turmoil in Finland which now existed without an executive head. The parliament, controlled by social democrats, passed the so-called Power Law, which would give the highest authority to the parliament. This was not liked by the right wing in Finland or by the new Russian Provisional Government, which overthrew the parliament and staged new elections which the right wing won. This tension between right and left became the basis for the Finish civil war. The right wing had as their main political objective the continuing subordination of Finland to Russia (and in doing so were a considerable road block to democracy), however, their policies changed after the October Revolution also in 1917. In the October Revolution communists came to power in Russia; in response anti-communist right wing in Finland declared independence. Months after this the Finish left wing staged a coup that was half successful and a civil war ensued. The left wing was supported by Russia, and the right wing was supported by Imperial Germany. The right eventually won and tens of thousands of the left wing and suspected sympathizers were interned in camps, where thousands died by execution or from malnutrition and disease. This constituted Genocide under Article 2 of the UN Genocide Convention (which had actually not been written yet)(this act does not constitute genocide under the UN Convention as it currently stands as it was modified by Stalin to take "political groups" out of the list of groups which genocide could be committed against).

So Finland failed to become a democracy after all even though they became a presidential republic in 1919. This republic however was formed on the genocide of the left and so cannot fulfill the requirement of '-Full participation of all adults in the decision making process,' since an entire segment of the population was destroyed 'in whole or in part' and as such would be granted gross under representation in a standard ballot vote.

One of the first real democracies I see in an industrial nation is Egypt after the revolution in 1952. This was a military led coup to overthrow a corrupt monarchy and create a republic. A provisional government set up elections and a popular nationalist leader won. This leader named Nasser set about enacting popular reforms with nationalist socialist tendencies. Womens suffrage, land reform, nationalizing banks and the Suez Canal, were a few of the popular things that Nasser did in his first 2 years. In 1967 due to massive popular pressure, Nasser decided to close off Egyptian airspace to Israeli planes. Israel responded by 'pre-emptively' attacking Egypt and the six days war ensued. Israel eventually won this war, and Egypt never fully recovered.

The Case for Democracy:

-Nasser was an elected leader (at the time women were not allowed to vote)

-Nasser had wide popular support (from women and men)

-Nasser enacted popular programs that benefited the majority of people

-When Nasser tried to resign after the war there were mass demonstrations urging him to stay and he did.

The case against Democracy:

-Nasser stressed the importance of unity over dissent

-Nasser created a one party system

-Nasser persecuted other socialist and nationalist who dissagreed with him

we must remember that despite this Nasser was always seen as a hero. This is probably the earliest that close people have come to creating a true democracy (in an industrialized country) where the people decide policy and truly support their government because the liked it.