1 Ancient Greece was not the birthplace of democracy. Two thousand years earlier in the kingdom of Ebla, located in what is now Syria, kings were elected for seven-year terms.
2 Humans are not the only ones that vote. When it is time to find a new hive, honeybees vote for the best location, even though they can’t count. After scouts return from casing possible sites, they dance. The bees that dance most vigorously will recruit other scouts until one site wins.
3 Divining the human decision-making process is tougher. The first election poll in the United States was conducted in 1824 by the Harrisburg Pennsylvanian newspaper. It accurately predicted that Andrew Jackson would win the most votes in the presidential race, but...
4 ...unfortunately, the poll didn’t predict the winner, because Jackson didn’t get enough votes in the electoral college. The House of Representatives gave the presidency to John ...
