Defining democracy...

In the case of a word like democracy, not only is there no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides. It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it: consequently the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using that word if it were tied down to any one meaning.

- George Orwell
Politics and the English Language

The origins of dictatorship and democracy...

Did natural forces or factors, such as climate and geography, leave so little room for maneuver that dictatorship and democracy were foregone conclusions? Had political outcomes been decided millions of years before the emergence of government? Did the resource wealth bestowed on future nations by ancient geologic forces determine whether they would become democracies or dictatorships?

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