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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 ...