City-States

In the Western hemisphere, the emergence of the Greek city-states heralded the era of the State. The earliest form is recognized as the city-states between 800 BC and 500 BC. By and large, the Greek city-states were organized on the basis of the earliest forms of democracy—’direct democracy’ with direct participation of the people. Subsequently, two of the larger city states, Athens and Sparta, expanded their territorial spread and absorbed the earlier city-states.²⁰ In the Eastern hemisphere, we do not find many documented examples of statehood. In India, however, examples are found of Janapada (local democracies).