The African Origins of Democracy challenges the myth that democracy was born in ancient Greece. Drawing on archaeology, anthropology, and political science, Bernd Reiter shows that egalitarian African societies practiced self-rule tens of thousands of years earlierâand that these traditions spread outward through migration and exchange. At the heart of the book is Botswana, where dikgotlaâvillage assembliesâstill embody living democracy today. Bold and provocative, this book rewrites democracyâs story, centering Africa as its birthplace and urging us to imagine futures beyond elite-driven representative systems.