Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson — Pirate Democracy?

In our discussion of Berber society, we discovered that the Berber’s of the High Atlas Mountains democratically elected secular political leaders and even practiced a form of checks and balances by rotating the office in strict order across clans.
Another fascinating case of unlikely democracy is 18th century pirates. You might have imagined that a tough pirate like Bartholomew Roberts would have bullied and tyrannized his way to power. Not quite. In fact he needed a campaign manager “Lord” Dennis who entreated the crew

"who by his Counsel and Bravery seems best able to defend this Commonwealth, and ward us from the Dangers and Tempests of an unstable Element, and the fatal Consequences of Anarchy"

Answer: Roberts.

Instead of grabbing power, Roberts was elected on the basis of one-pirate-one-vote.

Why Nations Fail
Pirate Democracy?
Daron Acemoglu, Killian Professor of Economics at MIT, and James Robinson, David Florence Professor of Government at Harvard University