Defence of the elections – defence of democracy in Ancient Rome
- Autores: Malina Novkirichka-Stoyanova
- Localización: Rights of citizens and their protection: Collection of reports and papers presented at the international scientific conference in honour of acad. Antonio Fernández de Buján y Fernández, Doctor Honoris Causa of New Bulgarian University, held on 6 November 2018, 2019, ISBN 978-619-233-079-8, págs. 251-277
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
Elections of state bodies based on a common, equal and direct suffrage by secret voting are one of the foundations of modern democracy. Irrespective of the way elections are proclaimed, and the way the election process is set out in the constitution, the election laws and regulations, in every country during elections there are complaints and calls for fight against corruption.
Some examples from Ancient Rome, including legislation from the period of the Republic have a surprisingly modern projection. The attempts of the Roman public power to deal with crime, called ambitus, can also be a source of ideas about present-day fight against electoral corruption.
Electoral corruption (ambitus) was a phenomenon that arose during the Middle and Late Roman Republic and peaked in the 1st Century BC. The nobility’s thirst for power and the financial needs of a large proportion of the populus rendered electoral bribery a very widespread practice, which led to the decline of the political institutions in the Late Republic.
