diff --git a/activerecord/CHANGELOG b/activerecord/CHANGELOG
index c2299b56ad..c1d7297260 100644
--- a/activerecord/CHANGELOG
+++ b/activerecord/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,3 +1,19 @@
+*2.3.0/3.0*
+
+* Added default_scope to Base #1381 [Paweł Kondzior]. Example:
+
+    class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
+      default_scope :order => 'last_name, first_name'
+    end
+
+    class Company < ActiveRecord::Base
+      has_many :people
+    end
+
+    Person.all             # => Person.find(:all, :order => 'last_name, first_name')
+    Company.find(1).people # => Person.find(:all, :order => 'last_name, first_name', :conditions => { :company_id => 1 })
+
+
 *2.2.1 [RC2] (November 14th, 2008)*
 
 * Ensure indices don't flip order in schema.rb #1266 [Jordi Bunster]
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
index dcc8277849..d8b7a5a931 100755
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
@@ -495,6 +495,10 @@ module ActiveRecord #:nodoc:
     superclass_delegating_accessor :store_full_sti_class
     self.store_full_sti_class = false
 
+    # Stores the default scope for the class
+    class_inheritable_accessor :default_scoping, :instance_writer => false
+    self.default_scoping = []
+
     class << self # Class methods
       # Find operates with four different retrieval approaches:
       #
@@ -2016,6 +2020,16 @@ module ActiveRecord #:nodoc:
           @@subclasses[self] + extra = @@subclasses[self].inject([]) {|list, subclass| list + subclass.subclasses }
         end
 
+        # Sets the default options for the model. The format of the
+        # <tt>method_scoping</tt> argument is the same as in with_scope.
+        #
+        #   class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
+        #     default_scope :find => { :order => 'last_name, first_name' }
+        #   end
+        def default_scope(options = {})
+          self.default_scoping << { :find => options, :create => options.is_a?(Hash) ?  options[:conditions] : {} }
+        end
+
         # Test whether the given method and optional key are scoped.
         def scoped?(method, key = nil) #:nodoc:
           if current_scoped_methods && (scope = current_scoped_methods[method])
@@ -2031,7 +2045,7 @@ module ActiveRecord #:nodoc:
         end
 
         def scoped_methods #:nodoc:
-          Thread.current[:"#{self}_scoped_methods"] ||= []
+          Thread.current[:"#{self}_scoped_methods"] ||= self.default_scoping
         end
 
         def current_scoped_methods #:nodoc:
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/method_scoping_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/method_scoping_test.rb
index ff10bfaf3e..4ac0018144 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/method_scoping_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/method_scoping_test.rb
@@ -522,6 +522,67 @@ class HasAndBelongsToManyScopingTest< ActiveRecord::TestCase
 end
 
 
+class DefaultScopingTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
+  fixtures :developers
+
+  def test_default_scope
+    expected = Developer.find(:all, :order => 'salary DESC').collect { |dev| dev.salary }
+    received = DeveloperOrderedBySalary.find(:all).collect { |dev| dev.salary }
+    assert_equal expected, received
+  end
+
+  def test_default_scoping_with_threads
+    scope = [{:create=>nil, :find=>{:order=>"salary DESC"}}]
+
+    2.times do
+      Thread.new { assert_equal scope, DeveloperOrderedBySalary.send(:scoped_methods) }.join
+    end
+  end
+
+  def test_default_scoping_with_inheritance
+    scope = [{:create=>nil, :find=>{:order=>"salary DESC"}}]
+
+    # Inherit a class having a default scope and define a new default scope
+    klass = Class.new(DeveloperOrderedBySalary)
+    klass.send :default_scope, {}
+
+    # Scopes added on children should append to parent scope
+    expected_klass_scope = [{:create=>nil, :find=>{:order=>"salary DESC"}}, {:create=>nil, :find=>{}}]
+    assert_equal expected_klass_scope, klass.send(:scoped_methods)
+    
+    # Parent should still have the original scope
+    assert_equal scope, DeveloperOrderedBySalary.send(:scoped_methods)
+  end
+
+  def test_method_scope
+    expected = Developer.find(:all, :order => 'name DESC').collect { |dev| dev.salary }
+    received = DeveloperOrderedBySalary.all_ordered_by_name.collect { |dev| dev.salary }
+    assert_equal expected, received
+  end
+
+  def test_nested_scope
+    expected = Developer.find(:all, :order => 'name DESC').collect { |dev| dev.salary }
+    received = DeveloperOrderedBySalary.with_scope(:find => { :order => 'name DESC'}) do
+      DeveloperOrderedBySalary.find(:all).collect { |dev| dev.salary }
+    end
+    assert_equal expected, received
+  end
+
+  def test_nested_exclusive_scope
+    expected = Developer.find(:all, :limit => 100).collect { |dev| dev.salary }
+    received = DeveloperOrderedBySalary.with_exclusive_scope(:find => { :limit => 100 }) do
+      DeveloperOrderedBySalary.find(:all).collect { |dev| dev.salary }
+    end
+    assert_equal expected, received
+  end
+
+  def test_overwriting_default_scope
+    expected = Developer.find(:all, :order => 'salary').collect { |dev| dev.salary }
+    received = DeveloperOrderedBySalary.find(:all, :order => 'salary').collect { |dev| dev.salary }
+    assert_equal expected, received
+  end
+end
+
 =begin
 # We disabled the scoping for has_one and belongs_to as we can't think of a proper use case
 
diff --git a/activerecord/test/models/developer.rb b/activerecord/test/models/developer.rb
index c08476f728..0c20f97502 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/models/developer.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/models/developer.rb
@@ -77,3 +77,15 @@ class DeveloperWithBeforeDestroyRaise < ActiveRecord::Base
     raise if projects.empty?
   end
 end
+
+class DeveloperOrderedBySalary < ActiveRecord::Base
+    self.table_name = 'developers'
+    default_scope :order => "salary DESC"
+
+    def self.all_ordered_by_name
+      with_scope(:find => { :order => "name DESC" }) do
+        find(:all)
+      end
+    end
+
+end