Search results
- Dictionarydemocracy/dɪˈmɒkrəsi/
noun
- 1. a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives: "a system of parliamentary democracy"
Powered by Oxford Dictionaries
People also ask
Is the United States a democracy or a republic?
How does a democracy work?
What does democracy mean in Greek?
Learn the meaning of democracy in English, with different levels and contexts. Find out how democracy works in politics, countries, organizations, and groups, and see related words and phrases.
- Overview
- Fundamental questions
Democracy is a system of government in which laws, policies, leadership, and major undertakings of a state or other polity are directly or indirectly decided by the “people,” a group historically constituted by only a minority of the population (e.g., all free adult males in ancient Athens or all sufficiently propertied adult males in 19th-century Britain) but generally understood since the mid-20th century to include all (or nearly all) adult citizens.
Where was democracy first practiced?
Studies of contemporary nonliterate tribal societies and other evidence suggest that democracy, broadly speaking, was practiced within tribes of hunter-gatherers in prehistoric times. The transition to settled agricultural communities led to inequalities of wealth and power between and within communities and hierarchical nondemocratic forms of social organization. Thousands of years later, in the 6th century BCE, a relatively democratic form of government was introduced in the city-state of Athens by Cleisthenes.
How is democracy better than other forms of government?
States with democratic governments prevent rule by autocrats, guarantee fundamental individual rights, allow for a relatively high level of political equality, and rarely make war on each other. As compared with nondemocratic states, they also better foster human development as measured by indicators such as health and education, provide more prosperity for their citizens, and ensure a broader range of personal freedoms.
Why does democracy need education?
The etymological origins of the term democracy hint at a number of urgent problems that go far beyond semantic issues. If a government of or by the people—a “popular” government—is to be established, at least five fundamental questions must be confronted at the outset, and two more are almost certain to be posed if the democracy continues to exist for long.
(1) What is the appropriate unit or association within which a democratic government should be established? A town or city? A country? A business corporation? A university? An international organization? All of these?
(2) Given an appropriate association—a city, for example—who among its members should enjoy full citizenship? Which persons, in other words, should constitute the dēmos? Is every member of the association entitled to participate in governing it? Assuming that children should not be allowed to participate (as most adults would agree), should the dēmos include all adults? If it includes only a subset of the adult population, how small can the subset be before the association ceases to be a democracy and becomes something else, such as an aristocracy (government by the best, aristos) or an oligarchy (government by the few, oligos)?
(3) Assuming a proper association and a proper dēmos, how are citizens to govern? What political organizations or institutions will they need? Will these institutions differ between different kinds of associations—for example, a small town and a large country?
Exclusive academic rate for students! Save 67% on Britannica Premium.
Learn More
The meaning of DEMOCRACY is government by the people : rule of the majority. How to use democracy in a sentence. Frequently Asked Questions About democracy.
- The United States is both a democracy and a republic. Democracies and republics are both forms of government in which supreme power resides in the...
- The word democracy most often refers to a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting.
- A democratic system of government is a form of government in which supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirect...
Democracy (from Ancient Greek: δημοκρατία, romanized: dēmokratía, dēmos 'people' and kratos 'rule') [1] is a system of government in which state power is vested in the people or the general population of a state.
Democracy is a system of government in which laws, policies, leadership, and major undertakings of a state or other polity are dire.
Democracy is a system of government where the citizens of a state exercise power to rule the state, either directly or through electing representatives. Learn about the history, types, and examples of democracy from Dictionary.com.
Democracy is a form of government in which the people have supreme power and exercise it directly or indirectly through elections. Learn about the history, features, and variations of democracy from Britannica's editors and experts.
