When Cleisthenes returned from exile to Athens in the year 507 BC, he faced a situation for which there was no precedent in history. Having proposed reform before Isagoras usurped power, he now had to ...

The 'democratic' reforms of Cleisthenes were a highly complicated revision of tribal and religious associations that had endured for centuries. Above all else, they were an attempt to make the ...

I've heard a few proud Icelanders argue that their proud island was home to the world's first naturally occurring democracy when Vikings settled there sometime in 870. Still, everyone knows the story ...

The ancient Greeks famously invented democracy. But what was Greek democracy actually like - and how was it different from the 21st-century kind? What's in a word?We may live in a very different and ...

If you love reality talent shows you have Cleisthenes to thank for the format. Conversely, if you hate reality talent shows you have Cleisthenes to blame. The very structure of voting and democracy ...