Democracy

The word democracy originates from the Greek words meaning “the people” and “to rule.” Thus, democracy means “rule by the people.” The philosophy behind democracy is that all people have rights that cannot be taken away and that rulers and citizens have certain obligations to each other. The rulers have the obligation to protect citizens' rights, and citizens may take away the rulers' power if rulers do not fulfill their obligations.

Democracy is a form of government in which the voting citizenry, referred to as the people, have the power to alter the basic laws governing a state. There are several varieties of democracy, or means by which citizens may exercise this power, but the two most common forms are direct democracy and representative democracy. A direct democracy occurs when all citizens participate directly in governmental decision making, and representative democracy occurs when citizens elect officials to make decisions on their behalf. The term democracy may be used to assess how much influence people have over their government through elections and is demonstrated by the rule of law, that is, how much democracy exists.

Although in contemporary use, democracy is usually understood differently from the original use of the term by the ancient Greeks in their Athenian political system, present-day democracies may be characterized by these features:

• A constitution—written, unwritten, or both—that guides the formal operation of government, sets limits to government power, and outlines basic principles of legal rights that citizens may expect
• Election of officials
• Honest and equitable elections that are open to all citizens of voting age
• The right to vote and to stand for election (granted to all citizens of voting age)
• Freedom of expression, including the right to assemble peacefully and freedom of speech
• Freedom of association or the right to join with others either in personal relationships or in groups on the basis of shared views and beliefs
• Equal treatment under the law for all citizens, who have the right to appropriate legal procedures, safeguards, and established rules
• Access to alternative (nongovernment) sources of information
• An educated populace

Some of these rights may differ under certain conditions. For example, in the United States, a convicted felon may or may not have the right to vote depending on the state in which that person resides. In addition, in theory it is possible to have the problem of the tyranny of the majority. In that case, the right of all citizens to be treated equally under the law may be a concern if an elected majority opts to criminalize a particular minority, either directly or indirectly, on the basis of religion, sexual orientation, political beliefs, and so on. It might be argued that majority rule, despite such possible shortcomings, is better than minority rule, which has been shown through many cases historically to have overwhelmingly negative effects for large numbers of people. Some democratic systems use proportional representation as a way in which to ensure that minorities are represented fairly within government bodies, but other systems grant power predominantly to the two most popular political parties. However, the intention of a constitution, due process of law, and free elections is to curb the threat of a tyranny of the majority. Ideally, a democracy in practice entails majority rule with rights for minority groups.

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