How did the Mayflower Compact create representative government?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_Compact
It pretty much set up the first self-govern colony in America.
The Mayflower Compact was a document that was written and signed by the Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620. While it did not directly create a representative government, it laid the foundation for self-governance and had significant influence on the development of representative democracy in America.
To understand the connection between the Mayflower Compact and representative government, we have to examine the context in which it was created. The Pilgrims sailed to America seeking religious freedom and the opportunity to establish their own colony. However, due to bad weather, they ended up landing outside the jurisdiction of the Virginia Company, the organization that had given them permission to settle.
Faced with the prospect of lawlessness and potential conflict, the Pilgrims realized the need for a governing document to maintain order and make collective decisions. The Mayflower Compact, therefore, served as a social contract and agreement among the Pilgrims to establish a basic form of self-government.
While the Mayflower Compact did not explicitly establish representative government, it did introduce the idea of consent of the governed. The document stated that the colonists would create laws for the general good and abide by them. It declared that the colony would be governed by elected officials who would act in the interests of the community.
This concept of self-government and the election of leaders reflected an early form of representative democracy. Although the election process was not as elaborate as modern representative systems, the idea of collectively choosing leaders to make decisions on behalf of the community was an important step towards representative government.
In summary, the Mayflower Compact did not directly create representative government, but it established a foundation for self-governance and introduced the concept of consent of the governed. It laid the groundwork for the development of representative democracy in America by emphasizing the importance of elected officials acting in the interest of the community.