ABSTRACT
It was through local community life that democracy survived the feudal period and re-emerged as a political ideal. In the Scandinavian countries, including Iceland, where feudalism never completely overran the ancient community life, democracy also survived. This chapter discusses records of the prefeudal democratic community groups, with democratic religious life, close to the soil in China, India, Palestine, Switzerland, Holland, England, and Scandinavia. In the absorption of village community cultures by strong empires there has been great variation in method. Perhaps the highest level was reached in ancient Peru, where the old community structure was preserved and the conquered people were given equal place in the new order. The toughness of the small community, and its ability to withstand disintegrating influences, has enabled some of its best qualities to survive, perhaps to a day when methods other than force shall guide the development of human society.
