This was the situation until 1244. It was at this Chapter that the decision was made that each Chapter would determined the location for the following one. In terms of what I have already said regarding General Chapters, it is impossible to miss the democratic character of the legislation of the Dominican Order. Furthermore, I would venture to say that the Dominican Order, which began in the Middle Ages, is the oldest democracy of the world, even when we consider the civil realm. In reality, however, it was nothing more than a type of bilateral contract between King John and his barons, to whom he had conceded certain privileges in return for their submission.
True democracy is something entirely different.
The particular character of the bicameral system adopted by the Dominican Order makes its legislation one of the most perfect, even when we consider those adopted by civil democracies, since, in contrast to those embraced by the modern western states or in use in Venice or Rome during consular times, it has a successive rather than a simultaneous character. It entrusts legislative power to General Chapters of different composition, which succeed each other, and in which the power of the Lower House or Chapter of Definitors is identical to that of the Upper House or Chapter of Provincials, as will be the next one in Bologna. Priories also were autonomous from the beginning, something that is probably unique among non-monastic religious institutes. They elect their superiors and autonomously organize their own life and activities.