How do You Define Democracy?

hi

Democracy is a system of government where citizens are allowed to participate in the proposal and creation of laws. Throughout history, different places have had different forms of democracy.

Two of the most common forms of democratic government are direct democracy and representative democracy.

In a direct democracy, citizens are directly involved with creating laws, and in a representative democracy, citizens elect representatives who create laws on their behalf.

Democracy first appeared as a form of government in Ancient Greece around 800 B.C.E. In Ancient Greece, all native born males, regardless of how much money they had or what family they were born into, could vote regarding the government of the polis, or Greek city-state.

This type of democracy is called a direct democracy because citizens have the ability to vote on an issue in person rather than having an elected representative who votes on their behalf, as many modern democracies do.

In some places, several poleis would gather together and create leagues of city-states. Each city-state remained independent in its internal affairs, but they would band together to fight off invaders.

One of the major problems of the Greek democracy was the extreme individuality of the each city-state. Since each polis was unique, it was difficult for a league of city states to remain united for long.

Democracy in the Modern World

Despite the problems of the Greek polis, their form of government, democracy, continues to live on. Many Western nations practice representative democracy through an elected representative rather than direct democracy as practiced by the Greek city-states.

I want to begin with an overview of what democracy is. We can think of democracy as a system of government with four key elements

A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections.

The active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life.

Protection of the human rights of all citizens.

A rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens.

I want to talk about each of these four elements of what democracy is. Then I will talk about the obligations and requirements of citizens in a democracy.

Then I will conclude by talking about the obligations that we, the international community, have to the people of Iraq as you seek to build the first true democracy in the Arab world.

Democracy as a Political System of Competition for Power

Democracy is a means for the people to choose their leaders and to hold their leaders accountable for their policies and their conduct in office.

The people decide who will represent them in parliament, and who will head the government at the national and local levels.  They do so by choosing between competing parties in regular, free and fair elections.

Government is based on the consent of the governed.

In a democracy, the people are sovereign—they are the highest form of political authority.

Power flows from the people to the leaders of government, who hold power only temporarily.

Laws and policies require majority support in parliament, but the rights of minorities are protected in various ways.

The people are free to criticize their elected leaders and representatives, and to observe how they conduct the business of government.