ABSTRACT
Democracy is usually regarded as a rather evolutionary development, emerging at the time of the Athenian Republic, since the American War of Independence, or the French Revolution. The realization of democracy under present-day conditions consists in types of political government where, through the ballot, the citizens delegate legislative and administrative powers to their representatives. The most important cultural aspect of democracy, the autonomy of institutions, is seldom, if ever, considered in theoretical argument or practical application. Functional autonomy is found both in primitive cultures and in fully developed ones, for in a democracy or proto-democracy no central power exists which controls all aspects of the culture. In the peaceful phases of constructive existence, customary law and ethics supply measures which limit and mitigate personal tyranny. Modern democracies have developed a whole set of general measures to prevent any surreptitious and occasional or else permanent abuse of personal authority.
