The Mayflower Compact is frequently cited as the beginning of American democracy, as it involved the people of the Mayflower (the ones that survived the ocean voyage that is) coming together and agreeing in written form on norms that would govern their community as they began their new lives in the North American wilderness.  It was signed by the 41 males who were present, and determined the distribution of authority and the provision of governance by fair laws, the absence of which had caused previous English settlements to fail. 

The most important aspect of the Mayflower Compact was that in theory it recognized the people as the sole source of power. It also stated that 'the just and equal laws for the general good... of the colony' would be decided upon among the group. The elements of majority rule are founded in this statement. It must be noted that only men were included in this process, however the Mayflower Compact planted the seed of the democratic process in the new world.

The Mayflower Compact is an important document for the reasons cited by the previous posters, but we should see this document in its historical context.  Its most truly important point was that it was actually written down and then signed by every adult male, thus affirming that they had agreed to it voluntarily, not because of any existing legal or political issue or pressure.  It is the first document of its kind in North America, but it is based firmly on the central contexts of British law, and was not seen by the authors as any kind of revolutionary statement.  It did, however, firmly set the principle of equality among all citizens (or at least adult male citizens), simply because they all signed it.  The document actually says nothing about what laws they would live under, or majority rule, or anything else of the kind.  The document reads:

"IN THE name of God, Amen.

We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland king, defender of the faith, etc., having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.

In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the 11 of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domine 1620."

The type of local government the Pilgrims had in mind already existed de facto and de jure in Virginia since 1607, so Massachusetts was not the first colony to opt for a democratic style of government in the New World.  Nor would the Compact infringe on the British Crown's rights under the charter the colonists brought with them from England, which unfortunately for Massachusetts included the right to revoke the charter later.  And although we were probably all told in school that the Compact includes the power of majority rule, in actuality the Pilgrims lived under the general ideals of the Puritans. Puritans did not believe in the rule of the majority.  Community decisions had to be reached by concensus, which meant that all issues had to be thrashed out until a decision was reached that everyone could live with.  Of course, this did mean that sometimes people were forced to leave the colony voluntarily or were exiled if they could not bring themselves to put up with the group concensus, and that sometimes the concensus was essentially "we agree to disagree", but majority rule was officially frowned upon by the government of Massachusetts colony until well past the time of the Salem and Andover trials, in other words until the beginning of the 18th century.

So to summarize, the Compact made plain the equality of all in the group who could vote; their agreement to govern themselves; and the group itself as the source of political power locally, under the authority of the King.

The Mayflower Compact was written to guide the English settlers arriving on the American shores by way of the sailing vessel "the Mayflower". The rules established how the new arrivals intended to be governed. Although they had laws they would bring from their home country of England, many of those laws were not practical and relevant to the arduous task of taming an unexplored land. The Mayflower Compact provided a sense of stability and a practical guide for how the settlers would proceed as a society.

Historians believe the rules were not intended to be permanent even though the Mayflower Compact remained in force until about 1691. The British colonists would remain as loyal British citizens and, as such, remained under the authority of the British government. However, the situation in the new world was unique, and historians believe that at the urging of William Bradford, who anticipated potential problems, the compact was created. How much regular citizens participated in the creation of the document is unclear. For the most part, citizens agreed and were willing to abide by the general principles stated in the document as it applied to their daily lives.

The document is brief and states some general principles. For example, while recognizing the practicality of establishing an independent governing body for the settlement, the settlers would remain committed to King James and the British governmental authorities. The Mayflower Compact required colonists to live as Christians and to act in accordance with the decisions made by the majority that best benefited all of the settlement, placing the welfare of the colony as the priority over self-interest.

The Mayflower Compact is an important document, as the document establishes the first self-rule and democratic process in the colonies.

The Mayflower Compact was an agreement signed by 41 of the Pilgrim men on the Mayflower.  The men and the other Pilgrims were travelling to America to set up a colony that they could run according to their religious beliefs.  The men signed the compact, agreeing to set up a government in their colony and agreeing to obey that government.  This is seen as the first written constitution in American history.

We can argue that the Mayflower Compact is not really relevant today because it does not impact our everyday lives.  We are not governed by the Mayflower Compact and it has no status as a legal document anymore.  However, it is also possible to say that it remains relevant.  If it does, it is because it was the first document that set out some of the fundamental things that we believe in.

For example, this was the first document from what is now the United States to say that government existed because the people agreed to it.  This idea was taken up by Thomas Jefferson and put in the Declaration of Independence.  It was the first document to say that laws should be created that are just and equal.  It was, perhaps most importantly, the first time that we see the idea that Americans should have a constitution that specified (if only very generally) how they are to be governed.  This document (arguably) remains relevant today because it is the first statement of some of the most important ideas of American government.

People typically say that the Mayflower Compact was important to the founding of our country because it established the ideas of self-government, of democracy, and of written constitutions.  These became some of the most basic values of our government.

The Mayflower Compact is a very short document.  In it, the 41 white men who signed said that they were agreeing to be ruled by a government that they would set up.  In other words, they were all consenting to be ruled by the government.  About 150 years later, Thomas Jefferson would write that government got its powers from the consent of the people.  In the Mayflower Compact, the people (or at least the white men who were not servants) were consenting to be governed.  The Compact also said that people would get together from time to time to vote on laws.  This is a fundamental aspect of democracy.  Another fundamental aspect of democracy is the idea that laws should apply to everyone equally.  The Compact says that the laws they will make will be “just and equal laws.”  Overall, this is a constitution of sorts because it is a written document saying what their government will have the power to do.

Because the Mayflower Compact included all of these things that became important to American government, it is typically seen as an important document in the founding of our country.

When the colonists first arrived in the new, unsettled continent, they quickly realized many of the traditional laws and regulations that worked well in the civil society of England were not as easily transferable to the untamed continent. The Mayflower Compact was a set of practical rules guiding the settlement more applicable to the setting. If there was one thing the settlers agreed on, it was that without a guiding set of regulations for self-governance in the colonies, the results would be chaos. The Mayflower Compact did not relieve the colonists of being under the authority of the English civil and criminal law system. The compact provided a method for local authorities to deal with domestic issues without having to wait for months for legal decisions from the home country, Great Britain.

Not all historians agree the Mayflower Compact was a significant step in self-governance, serving as the foundation to American independence (as some historians believe). The Mayflower Compact was a temporary set of laws. It required the colonists to remain committed to the authority of King James, practice the Christian faith, and abide by the rules of the leadership of the colony. From this perspective, it is hard to see how self-governance was the founding principle of the document. The document had the agreement of forty-one of the one hundred or so passengers, of which thirty were probably crew members under the authority of the captain and with little recourse but to agree.

Nevertheless, the Mayflower document is significant because it is the first document signed in the New World that allowed for self-governance. It created a democratic, in place of autocratic, governing authority. The Mayflower Compact was a template and blueprint for similar colonization in the New World. From a social perspective, the Mayflower Compact created a sense of unity which no doubt was very much needed if the settlers were to survive and thrive in the New World.

There are at least two reasons why the Pilgrims felt that they needed the Mayflower Compact.

First, the idea of covenants was very important to them.  Puritans saw their relationship with God as one that rested on a contract or covenant.  Therefore, it makes sense that they would want to have a covenant to bind their community together.

Second, and more practically, they felt the Compact was needed to establish a legal basis for their government.  They were not going to settle in the place (Northern Virginia) that their charter called for.  This breach of their charter led some to argue that the whole government of the colony was invalid.  Therefore, they felt they needed this Compact to give the government a legal foundation.

The Mayflower Compact is a very short agreement that was written up and signed by the Separatists (better known as the Pilgrims) on the Mayflower before they disembarked in Massachusetts.  The ship was supposed to go to Virginia, but went off course.  This led to some disagreement as to whether there would be any legitimate government in the colony (since they were not in the place where their charter from the king said they would be).  To prevent this from becoming a problem, they wrote the Compact.

The Compact is significant in US history because it is seen as the start of democracy in America.  This is because the Compact is a document in which the signers willingly give their consent to be governed by a government that they would set up themselves.  Thus, the Compact is sort of like a first democratic constitution for an American colony.