A DEMOCRACY can be described as a type of government in which members of the public take part in the governing process. This inclusion can take different forms; it may be direct or it may be indirect. The term democracy is also employed to be a means of measurement of how much influence people (within a nation or state) have over their government. In the modern world, the notion of what exactly constitutes a democracy varies widely, as do the types of democracy used in political systems across the world.

The word democracy comes from the Greek language: demos meaning “the people”; kratein “to rule” or “people to rule.” In Greek, therefore, the term literally means “rule by the people.” While many people across the world ...