# 8.5 A Systemic Approach to ‘Democracy’
The first example of ‘democracy’, and the origin of the word, is from Greece. In the city state of Athens in ancient Greece all citizens took part in governmental decision making - what we now call direct democracy. In ancient Greece women and slaves were not citizens, and therefore not directly involved, but in the way we think of it now, in a direct democracy, every adult is a citizen. However, who is or is not a citizen even in our modern world is not a simple question for any community, there has always been movement of people from community to community spreading knowledge and understanding. When does an incomer become a citizen able to take part in the governing system? What qualifications should there be?
It makes sense to bring to bear on decisions all the available knowledge and understanding of the issues involved that exists in a community, and also all the available understanding of ramifications of any decision, how it will impact on the members of the community. This is essential if we wish to have the best possible 10 model in a community control system taking note of the Conant–Ashby Theorem. But central to this purpose is that there must be built into the governing system the necessity for there to be discussion to bring together the different perspectives which will exist on any situation. From that discussion agreed solutions to the complex problems of governing will emerge. As outlined in the previous two chapters. each citizen has a unique personal set of experiences which give rise to their view of the world. On any issue there can be a variety of views, both informed and uninformed, and in order to reach a decision there must be that time for open discussion to enable ideas to be challenged, misinformation to be countered, and a decision to emerge. In this process great care must be taken in this discussion to prevent any group even a majority of citizens curtailing the discussion to impose its will without that informed discussion. John Stuart Mill writes about the necessities and problems with both the informal system of societal customs and the formal legal system in constraints on personal action in his writing On Liberty (1987) including:- > .. ‘the tyranny of the majority’ is now generally included among the evils against which society requires to be on its guard. Mill 1989.