A new study published on Mar. 18 in Science Advances reveals that democratic practices have a much deeper and more global history than previously believed. The research examined evidence from 31 ancient societies across Europe, Asia, and the Americas to show that forms of shared governance existed long before the well-known examples of Greece and Rome.
The findings are significant because they challenge the traditional narrative that democracy began exclusively in classical Western civilizations. By developing a quantitative framework called an “autocracy index,” researchers assessed how power was distributed within these ancient societies, using data such as architecture, artwork, economic systems, rituals, wealth inequality, and administrative structures.
“People often assume that democratic practices started in Greece and Rome,” said Gary Feinman, lead author of the study and MacArthur Curator at the Field Museum’s Negaunee Integrative Research Center. “But our research shows that many societies around the world developed ways to limit the power of rulers and give ordinary people a voice.”
Co-author Keith Kintigh from Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change said: “For more than a century, while acknowledging some variation, there has been a tacit reliance on an evolutionary sequence of societal development in which hunter-gatherers have a more collective form of governance… This synthetic research shows a real diversity in the development of different modes of governance in what were previously classified as bands, tribes, chiefdoms and states.”
Researchers found examples like Teotihuacan—an ancient city near modern Mexico City with about 80,000 residents—that scored high for collective governance despite its size. In contrast, Maya cities such as Tikal or Copán were found to be more autocratic. Population size or political complexity did not predict whether societies would be autocratic or democratic; instead “the strongest factor shaping how much power rulers held was how they financed their authority,” Feinman said.
The study determined that internal financing methods like taxation correlated with shared governance while external sources such as control over resources or trade routes favored autocracy. Societies with inclusive political systems also tended to have lower levels of economic inequality.
“These findings challenge the idea that autocracy and great inequality are natural or inevitable outcomes of complexity or growth,” Feinman said. “History shows that people across the world have created inclusive political systems — even under difficult conditions.”
Kintigh added: “With data and analyses of this sort… we can compare…the long term sustainability of societies with different forms of governance…and also see that governance forms change through time.” Sarah Klassen from Arizona State University also contributed to this work.
Arizona State University is involved in various innovative projects beyond academic research; for example, according to a press release, it is partnering with Argos Vision—a tech startup developing smart traffic cameras—for safety improvements in Phoenix streets through a one-year pilot program.
Additionally, Arizona State University has been recognized as number one for innovation by U.S. News & World Report for eight consecutive years.
