Page 93 - Wholeness
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some kind of wholeness, democracy functioned relatively well,
but there was always discontentment and evil.
Starting with the insurrection against monarchy in England, in
1642, that culminated with the execution of king Charles I,
political and revolutionary movements against autocratic
European governments will result in establishing democratic
governments. These movements were mainly inspired and led by
political philosophers, particularly by the French, Montesquieu
and Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the American statesman
Thomas Jefferson. Before the end of the nineteenth century,
every significant Western European monarchy had adopted a
constitution that limited the power of the Crown and granted
considerable political power to the citizens.
In each of these countries a legislature was established
according to the model of the British Parliament. It was the time
when British politics had a very strong influence on the
organization of world democracies. The French Revolution was
also gaining momentum with a stronger influence on the entire
world stage. Later on, the success of the democratic institutions
in the USA served as a model to many people and countries.
Some of the outstanding features of contemporary democracy
are individual freedom, which allows citizens freedom and
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