alternatehistory.com

Though it certainly wasn't as free as the democracy we in the West practise it, it is popularly thought that the idea of democracy began in Athens. Certain sections of the population participated in elections and there were three branches of government-the Assembly, Council of Five Hundred and the courts. This model of democracy can be seen in several countries today.

On the other hand, Sparta was a militaristic society where the only occupation deemed important was service in the Army, to the extent where Spartan boys were taken from their families and brutally trained in the arts of war in the agoge. If a child was deemed unable to become a soldier, it was killed at birth.

Democracy became a popular form of government in the centuries to come while Spartan-type societies (like North Korea, for example) became frowned upon.

What would need to happen for it to be the other way around? Spartan-type militaristic societies become the norm while democracies are rare, if they exist at all.
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