ABSTRACT
Surprisingly similar notions of democracy have existed in two periods separated by almost 2000 years, namely Hellas in the classical period and the centuries after the French Revolution. To be sure, democrats in ancient Greece had no notion of two crucially important strands of the modern ideal of liberal democracy, namely representation and individual human rights. But the antique and modern conceptions share a general appreciation of three other values, namely self-government (popular sovereignty), liberty, and equality. It is all the more paradoxical that no direct relationship between ancient Greek democratic institutions and modern democratic institutions can be established. Instead, modern representative democracy owes a lot to medieval ecclesiastical and secular teaching about rulership and the practical use of institutions such as charters and estates of the realm. Furthermore, it draws on important elements of the republicanism which flourished during the Renaissance.
