Scandinavians: local strongman gathers independent farmers, citizen soldiers, small time business owners to a thing. The local strong man runs the meeting and sets the agenda but people speak fairly freely and he has to be able to convince the majority of men to agree with him. If he can't get that support he is disgraced and has to leave. If he can get the people behind him he can pretty much do what he wants until the next thing.

We have a tradition of endless things that drag on for days. We have had them since our first recorded history and we still have very similar meetings today in everything from companies to soccer clubs to housing associations.

There are fewer class based rules on who can participate but generally the people who show up are the ones who have the agency and interest in doing so.