1 John Knox learns of the presbyterian organization of churches from John Calvin directly in Geneva. John Calvin claims it was the true form of church organization in book 4 of his "Institutes Of The Christian Religion" 2 The basic idea is the early church supposedly was ruled by presbyters elected by local assemblies and then they go into a hired council, etc. It's something akin to representative democracy, but it's aimed only at the Catholic Hierarchy at that time.