When we think of the origins of democracy we think about Greece. However, an ancient Mexican city has much to do with the social roots of democracy. This article by Saul Elbein is published by The Hill. Here is an excerpt:

One of Mexico’s greatest ancient cities dominated the southern highlands of Oaxaca for a thousand years despite limited resources and poor soil — in a rare glimpse at a long-lasting near-democracy whose sustainability practices trumped those of most cities today.

That city’s ability to thrive — for a staggering 1,300 years — was largely  thanks to a cooperative, communal social structure that provided immigrants with economic opportunity and a good life, a new study in the Frontiers in Political Science journal has found.

“Why were people drawn like a magnet there, when they had to be living at close quarters to neighbors, on not-that-great farmland?” co-author Gary Feinman asked.

Read the full article here.