The concept evolved out of the political philosophy of populism, as a fully democratic version of this popular empowerment ideology, but since it has become independent of it, and some even discuss if they are antagonistic or unrelated now (see Values).
Thomas sees the line of this early popular democracy going through the dissenting church, to the American Revolutionaries and later British trade unionism.
[10] In post-independence India, popular democracy, together with economic and social liberalism and hindu nationalism, is considered one of the main currents that tried to define Indian politics since 1947.
[11] Iran is sometimes referred as having a history of popular democracy in parallel with the Pahlevi Monarchy before the overthrowing of Mossadeq and reinstating of the Shah.
[13] Similarly to Gaddafi, Hafez al-Assad, officially ended the one party state of Ba'ath Syria created by the 1963 coup d'état in 1970, declaring the creation of a multi-party popular democracy.
[14] In 1975 Al Gaddafi wrote The Green Book, where he defends his political system as a form of "direct and popular democracy" based on the will of the people instead of representative parliaments.
After the fall of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, a research and advocacy centre called the Institute for Popular Democracy was created who frequently criticizes "elite politics" and defends reformist local social movements.
[26][27][28] This ideal is currently supported by Glenn Smith[29] (who was connected to the Rockridge Institute,[30] a now defunct organization) and many other Progressive, Liberal and Populist Democrats.