There are many definitions of democracy that people have come up with over time. However, every description portrays a different meaning. There are those that are regarded as the best definitions while others are not. Getting a better understanding of the best explanation of democracy requires tracing of different interpretations over time especially from times when democracy began to take root in many societies around the world. The Greek’s definition of democracy carried negative connotations with it, but with time better definitions were introduced by different thinkers of that time (Roskin, Cord, Medeiros, & Jones, 2014). The thinkers defined democracy as a mob rule which involved a system that allowed every citizen to elect officials periodically and enact laws freely.
Some forms of direct democracy that bring a better understanding of the same is through referendums on matters that could not be handled by the legislature. Democracy has been a demur especially on how people view it, and this led to representative democracy as another form of getting a better notion of what is entailed by the term democracy (Forsythe, Coate, & Pease, 2013). Having a better understanding of democracy also induced the modern democracy which elaborates a new meaning of what people should perceive when they hear the term democracy.
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"Different Democracies Compared".
In the modern democracy, it is en masse people who play a general role and not the policies set by the people. The current factual definition of democracy contemplates that “Democracy is a government system that allows every citizen to have unequivocal influence by directly exercising their power through the election of representatives among themselves to change governing officials who represent them.” The modern definition of democracy can be summarized as “rule of the majority” (Roskin, Cord, Medeiros, & Jones, 2014). The system of democracy processes conflicts and the outcomes of this process depends on what is done by the participants and not a single control force. Under democracy, the government has limited powers.
- Forsythe, D. P., Coate, R. A., & Pease, K. K. (2013). The United Nations and changing world politics. Westview Press.
- Roskin, M. G., Cord, R. L., Medeiros, J. A., & Jones, W. S. (2014). Political science: An introduction (13th Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
