PLATFORM FOR CHANGE

The city of Athens is widely accepted as the mother of modern government, the concept having been well-articulated and put into practice there by the 6th century B.C., when the world’s first recorded structured government was established. The Greeks also brought us the word ‘democracy’. Used by Athenians to describe their system of government, it means ‘rule by the people’. While the notion of who exactly constituted ‘the people’ was somewhat limited (no women, slaves or foreigners were allowed a voice), the Athens model was a forward-thinking one that has gone on to dominate the way humans have tried to organise themselves ever since.