Democracy
is a system of government by the whole population or all the suitable members
of a state, normally through chosen representatives. It takes in social,
economic and cultural circumstances that allow the free and equal practice of
political self-determination. Democracy differs with forms of government where
power is either held by one person, as in a monarchy, or where power is held by
a small number of individuals, as in an oligarchy.
More
than a few variants of democracy exist, but there are two basic forms, both of
which concern how the whole body of all qualified citizens executes its will.
One form is direct democracy in which all qualified citizens have active and
direct participation in the decision making of the government. In nearly all
modern democracies, the whole body of all entitled citizens remains the
sovereign power but political power is exercised indirectly through elected
representatives; this is called representative democracy.
The concept of
representative democracy came up mainly from ideas and institutions that
developed during the European Middle Ages, the Reformation, the Age of
Enlightenment, and the American and French Revolutions.
