Includes bibliographical references (p. 277-294) and index.

Origins: democracy in the ancient Greek world --Democracy suppressed: the Roman republic and empire -- The early Middle Ages and the transition from feudalism to capitalism -- The English Revolution and parliamentary democracy -- The American Revolution and constitutional redefinition of democracy -- The revolutionary revival of democracy in France -- The revolutions of 1848-49 -- Capitalist expansion, globalisation and democratisation -- The Marxist critique of capitalism and representative democracy -- Precursors of socialist participatory democracy: the Paris Commune 1871 and Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917.

Brian Roper refreshes our understanding of democracy using a Marxist theoretical framework. He traces the history of democracy from ancient Athens to the emergence of liberal representative and socialist participatory democracy in Europe and North America, through to the global spread of democracy during the past century.