Of course, even the earliest societies had ways of consulting broadly on the issues that were important to them. The Roman historian Tacitus writes of Germanic tribes where the chiefs decided on small issues – but the entire community decided on big issues.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, “plebiscites” were held in France and Switzerland, though the only people allowed to vote were property-owning males. It wasn’t until 1793 that the first proper nationwide referendum was held – and even then it came to nothing.
The French constitution of that year, designed to usher in greater democratisation and wealth redistribution, was approved via universal male suffrage. But it was quickly overtaken by events, and died along with one of its chief protagonists, Maximilien Robespierre, the following year.
The rest, as they say, is history.