This chapter introduces a counter-narrative to the widely held belief that democracy originated in classical Athens. Drawing on recent archaeological, anthropological, and historical research—especially the work of Graeber and Wengrow—this chapter foregrounds human agency and institutional choice in prehistoric societies. It posits that egalitarian political institutions, particularly those observed among African hunter-gatherers, represent the earliest forms of democracy, predating Greek models by tens of thousands of years. Focusing on Botswana as a living example of these traditions, the chapter argues that institutions like the kgotla reflect a deep historical continuity of self-rule and collective decision-making. Rather than seeing democracy as a Greek invention, this chapter proposes a broader framework rooted in Africa’s political prehistory, where egalitarianism served as both political principle and institutional practice. By redefining democracy as the self-rule of average people through public deliberation, the chapter lays the foundation for a decolonized historiography of democracy that privileges African agency, challenges Eurocentrism, and calls for a reevaluation of representative democracy’s legitimacy.