Democracy (Public Administration)

Originating back to ancient Greece, when Athens (ca. 500–330 BCE) called itself a democracy, the term refers to a government in which supreme power is vested in the people, exercised either directly or indirectly through elected represen tatives. Elections are typically held with freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and some degree of rule of law. The term is a literal translation of the Greek demokratia, and when used as a descriptive term, democracy is synonymous with “majority rule.”

Although it originated in ancient Greece, modern conceptions are largely different, and no universally accepted definition of democracy exists. The formal mechanisms of democracy vary, with direct democracy at one end of the spectrum and representative democracy at the other. Direct democracy means that people participate directly in the activities of State with voting techniques such as referendums (Switzerland), while in contrast, in a representative democracy, sovereignty is [Page 141]exercised by representatives of the people, elected on a geographical and population basis (United States). Most democracies are representative democracies.

In the United States, separation of powers, or the division of political power among several bodies as a precaution against tyranny, is often regarded as a neces sary element, while in other countries, such as the United Kingdom, the underlying philosophy of demo cracy is parliamentary sovereignty, where the parliament is supreme to all other government institutions. Although most political systems have considered themselves democracies since the mid 20th century, many have not stressed individual rights or emphasized other elements typical of Western democracy such as the encourage ment of competing political parties.

With the collapse of authoritative dictatorships in Latin America and the end of one-party Communist rule in Eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, the number of countries holding multiparty elections has recently increased. Despite the increase in countries holding multiparty elections, the rights and freedoms of citizens in many nations in the world are limited, and many countries in Africa, for example, have reverted to authoritarian governments with sham, and sometimes violent, elections (e.g., Zimbabwe in 2008).