The journey of modern democracy started two centuries ago. During the 19^th century, democracy was overthrown and restored several times, in France. The French Revolution that took place in 1789 inspired many struggles for democracy all over Europe.

In Britain, though the progress towards democracy was very slow, it started much before the French Revolution. Series of political events reduced the power of the monarchy and the feudal lords in the nineteenth centuries.

In the United States, the British colonies in North America declared themselves independent in 1776. In the next few years, these colonies came together to form the United States of America. They adopted a democratic constitution in 1787.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, many countries had governments elected by the people and had political freedom in some measure.