🔥🔥🔥 Definition Of Democracy

William Benton. We Definition Of Democracy have Definition Of Democracy really resolved these Definition Of Democracy of how do you build a democracy Definition Of Democracy a country that is very diverse? See also: Politics of Definition Of Democracy and Voting in Switzerland. Main story of pi Inclusive democracy. Definition Of Democracy example, in Africa, the tsetse Definition Of Democracy —which afflicts Definition Of Democracy and livestock—reduced the ability of Africans to plow the land. The citizen Definition Of Democracy is advised by experts but it is the citizen body which functions as the ultimate psychodynamic approach definition. Definition Of Democracy from Definition Of Democracy original on Definition Of Democracy July

What is Democracy?

The US can be seen to have, eventually, adopted this ideal of civic inclusive nationalism. The German method, required by political circumstances, was todefine the "nation" in ethnic terms. Ethnicity in practice came down to speaking German and perhaps having a German name. For the largely German-speaking Slavic middle classes of Prague, Agram etc. It is debateable whether, in practice, all nationalisms ended up as Chauvinistic and aggressive, but the very nature of nationalism requires that boundaries be drawn. Unless these boundaries are purely civic, successful nationalism, in many cases produced a situation in which substantial groups of outsiders were left within "nation-states".

Elections typically have a fixed date and aren't easily changed. The president has direct control over the cabinet, specifically appointing the cabinet members. The president cannot be easily removed from office by the legislature, but he or she cannot remove members of the legislative branch any more easily. This provides some measure of separation of powers. In consequence, however, the president and the legislature may end up in the control of separate parties, allowing one to block the other and thereby interfere with the orderly operation of the state.

This may be the reason why presidential democracy is not very common outside the Americas, Africa, and Central and Southeast Asia. A semi-presidential system is a system of democracy in which the government includes both a prime minister and a president. The particular powers held by the prime minister and president vary by country. Some modern democracies that are predominantly representative in nature also heavily rely upon forms of political action that are directly democratic.

These democracies, which combine elements of representative democracy and direct democracy, are termed hybrid democracies , [] semi-direct democracies or participatory democracies. Examples include Switzerland and some U. The Swiss confederation is a semi-direct democracy. Examples include the extensive use of referendums in the US state of California , which is a state that has more than 20 million voters. In New England , Town meetings are often used, especially in rural areas, to manage local government.

This creates a hybrid form of government, with a local direct democracy and a representative state government. For example, most Vermont towns hold annual town meetings in March in which town officers are elected, budgets for the town and schools are voted on, and citizens have the opportunity to speak and be heard on political matters. Many countries such as the United Kingdom , Spain , the Netherlands , Belgium , Scandinavian countries , Thailand , Japan and Bhutan turned powerful monarchs into constitutional monarchs with limited or, often gradually, merely symbolic roles.

For example, in the predecessor states to the United Kingdom, constitutional monarchy began to emerge and has continued uninterrupted since the Glorious Revolution of and passage of the Bill of Rights In other countries, the monarchy was abolished along with the aristocratic system as in France , China , Russia , Germany , Austria , Hungary , Italy , Greece and Egypt. An elected person, with or without significant powers, became the head of state in these countries. Elite upper houses of legislatures, which often had lifetime or hereditary tenure, were common in many states.

Over time, these either had their powers limited as with the British House of Lords or else became elective and remained powerful as with the Australian Senate. The term republic has many different meanings, but today often refers to a representative democracy with an elected head of state , such as a president , serving for a limited term, in contrast to states with a hereditary monarch as a head of state, even if these states also are representative democracies with an elected or appointed head of government such as a prime minister.

The Founding Fathers of the United States rarely praised and often criticised democracy, which in their time tended to specifically mean direct democracy, often without the protection of a constitution enshrining basic rights; James Madison argued, especially in The Federalist No. What was critical to American values, John Adams insisted, [] was that the government be "bound by fixed laws, which the people have a voice in making, and a right to defend. He replied "A republic—if you can keep it. A liberal democracy is a representative democracy in which the ability of the elected representatives to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law , and moderated by a constitution or laws that emphasise the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals, and which places constraints on the leaders and on the extent to which the will of the majority can be exercised against the rights of minorities see civil liberties.

In a liberal democracy, it is possible for some large-scale decisions to emerge from the many individual decisions that citizens are free to make. In other words, citizens can "vote with their feet" or "vote with their dollars", resulting in significant informal government-by-the-masses that exercises many "powers" associated with formal government elsewhere. Socialist thought has several different views on democracy. Social democracy , democratic socialism , and the dictatorship of the proletariat usually exercised through Soviet democracy are some examples. Within Marxist orthodoxy there is a hostility to what is commonly called "liberal democracy", which is simply referred to as parliamentary democracy because of its often centralised nature.

Because of orthodox Marxists' desire to eliminate the political elitism they see in capitalism, Marxists , Leninists and Trotskyists believe in direct democracy implemented through a system of communes which are sometimes called soviets. This system ultimately manifests itself as council democracy and begins with workplace democracy. Democracy cannot consist solely of elections that are nearly always fictitious and managed by rich landowners and professional politicians. Anarchists are split in this domain, depending on whether they believe that a majority-rule is tyrannic or not.

To many anarchists, the only form of democracy considered acceptable is direct democracy. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon argued that the only acceptable form of direct democracy is one in which it is recognised that majority decisions are not binding on the minority, even when unanimous. Some anarcho-communists oppose the majoritarian nature of direct democracy, feeling that it can impede individual liberty and opt-in favour of a non-majoritarian form of consensus democracy , similar to Proudhon's position on direct democracy. Sometimes called "democracy without elections", sortition chooses decision makers via a random process.

The intention is that those chosen will be representative of the opinions and interests of the people at large, and be more fair and impartial than an elected official. The technique was in widespread use in Athenian Democracy and Renaissance Florence [] and is still used in modern jury selection. A consociational democracy allows for simultaneous majority votes in two or more ethno-religious constituencies, and policies are enacted only if they gain majority support from both or all of them.

A consensus democracy, in contrast, would not be dichotomous. Instead, decisions would be based on a multi-option approach, and policies would be enacted if they gained sufficient support, either in a purely verbal agreement or via a consensus vote—a multi-option preference vote. If the threshold of support were at a sufficiently high level, minorities would be as it were protected automatically. Furthermore, any voting would be ethno-colour blind.

Qualified majority voting is designed by the Treaty of Rome to be the principal method of reaching decisions in the European Council of Ministers. This system allocates votes to member states in part according to their population, but heavily weighted in favour of the smaller states. This might be seen as a form of representative democracy, but representatives to the Council might be appointed rather than directly elected. Inclusive democracy is a political theory and political project that aims for direct democracy in all fields of social life: political democracy in the form of face-to-face assemblies which are confederated, economic democracy in a stateless , moneyless and marketless economy, democracy in the social realm, i.

The basic unit of decision making in an inclusive democracy is the demotic assembly, i. An inclusive democracy today can only take the form of a confederal democracy that is based on a network of administrative councils whose members or delegates are elected from popular face-to-face democratic assemblies in the various demoi. Thus, their role is purely administrative and practical, not one of policy-making like that of representatives in representative democracy.

The citizen body is advised by experts but it is the citizen body which functions as the ultimate decision-taker. Authority can be delegated to a segment of the citizen body to carry out specific duties, for example, to serve as members of popular courts, or of regional and confederal councils. Such delegation is made, in principle, by lot, on a rotation basis, and is always recallable by the citizen body. Delegates to regional and confederal bodies should have specific mandates. A Parpolity or Participatory Polity is a theoretical form of democracy that is ruled by a Nested Council structure. The guiding philosophy is that people should have decision making power in proportion to how much they are affected by the decision.

Local councils of 25—50 people are completely autonomous on issues that affect only them, and these councils send delegates to higher level councils who are again autonomous regarding issues that affect only the population affected by that council. A council court of randomly chosen citizens serves as a check on the tyranny of the majority , and rules on which body gets to vote on which issue. Delegates may vote differently from how their sending council might wish but are mandated to communicate the wishes of their sending council. Delegates are recallable at any time. Referendums are possible at any time via votes of most lower-level councils, however, not everything is a referendum as this is most likely a waste of time.

A parpolity is meant to work in tandem with a participatory economy. Cosmopolitan democracy, also known as Global democracy or World Federalism , is a political system in which democracy is implemented on a global scale, either directly or through representatives. An important justification for this kind of system is that the decisions made in national or regional democracies often affect people outside the constituency who, by definition, cannot vote.

By contrast, in a cosmopolitan democracy, the people who are affected by decisions also have a say in them. According to its supporters, any attempt to solve global problems is undemocratic without some form of cosmopolitan democracy. The general principle of cosmopolitan democracy is to expand some or all of the values and norms of democracy, including the rule of law; the non-violent resolution of conflicts; and equality among citizens, beyond the limits of the state. To be fully implemented, this would require reforming existing international organisations , e.

Creative Democracy is advocated by American philosopher John Dewey. The main idea about Creative Democracy is that democracy encourages individual capacity building and the interaction among the society. Dewey argues that democracy is a way of life in his work of "Creative Democracy: The Task Before Us" [] and an experience built on faith in human nature, faith in human beings, and faith in working with others.

Democracy, in Dewey's view, is a moral ideal requiring actual effort and work by people; it is not an institutional concept that exists outside of ourselves. Guided democracy is a form of democracy that incorporates regular popular elections, but which often carefully "guides" the choices offered to the electorate in a manner that may reduce the ability of the electorate to truly determine the type of government exercised over them.

Such democracies typically have only one central authority which is often not subject to meaningful public review by any other governmental authority. Russian-style democracy has often been referred to as a "Guided democracy. Aside from the public sphere, similar democratic principles and mechanisms of voting and representation have been used to govern other kinds of groups. Many non-governmental organisations decide policy and leadership by voting.

Most trade unions and cooperatives are governed by democratic elections. Corporations are controlled by shareholders on the principle of one share, one vote —sometimes supplemented by workplace democracy. Amitai Etzioni has postulated a system that fuses elements of democracy with sharia law , termed Islamocracy. Social contract theory argues that the legitimacy of government is based on consent of the governed , i. Condorcet's jury theorem is logical proof that if each decision-maker has a better than chance probability of making the right decision, then having the largest number of decision-makers, i.

This has also been argued by theories of the wisdom of the crowd. Democratic peace theory claims that liberal democracies do not go to war against each other. Robinson argue that democracies are more economically successful because undemocratic political systems tend to limit markets and favor monopolies at the expense of the creative destruction which is necessary for sustained economic growth. Arrow's impossibility theorem suggests that democracy is logically incoherent. This is based on a certain set of criteria for democratic decision-making being inherently conflicting, i. Kenneth Arrow summarised the implications of the theorem in a non-mathematical form, stating that "no voting method is fair", "every ranked voting method is flawed", and "the only voting method that isn't flawed is a dictatorship".

However, Arrow's formal premises can be considered overly strict, and with their reasonable weakening, the logical incoherence of democracy looks much less critical. Some economists have criticized the efficiency of democracy, citing the premise of the irrational voter, or a voter who makes decisions without all of the facts or necessary information in order to make a truly informed decision. Another argument is that democracy slows down processes because of the amount of input and participation needed in order to go forward with a decision. A common example often quoted to substantiate this point is the high economic development achieved by China a non-democratic country as compared to India a democratic country.

According to economists, the lack of democratic participation in countries like China allows for unfettered economic growth. On the other hand, Socrates believed that democracy without educated masses educated in the broader sense of being knowledgeable and responsible would only lead to populism being the criteria to become an elected leader and not competence. This would ultimately lead to a societal demise. The 20th-century Italian thinkers Vilfredo Pareto and Gaetano Mosca independently argued that democracy was illusory, and served only to mask the reality of elite rule. Indeed, they argued that elite oligarchy is the unbendable law of human nature, due largely to the apathy and division of the masses as opposed to the drive, initiative and unity of the elites , and that democratic institutions would do no more than shift the exercise of power from oppression to manipulation.

Plato 's The Republic presents a critical view of democracy through the narration of Socrates : "Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequaled alike. Assuming that the Republic was intended to be a serious critique of the political thought in Athens, Plato argues that only Kallipolis, an aristocracy led by the unwilling philosopher-kings the wisest men , is a just form of government. James Madison critiqued direct democracy which he referred to simply as "democracy" in Federalist No. More recently, democracy is criticised for not offering enough political stability. As governments are frequently elected on and off there tends to be frequent changes in the policies of democratic countries both domestically and internationally.

Even if a political party maintains power, vociferous, headline-grabbing protests and harsh criticism from the popular media are often enough to force sudden, unexpected political change. Frequent policy changes with regard to business and immigration are likely to deter investment and so hinder economic growth. For this reason, many people have put forward the idea that democracy is undesirable for a developing country in which economic growth and the reduction of poverty are top priorities. This opportunist alliance not only has the handicap of having to cater to too many ideologically opposing factions, but it is usually short-lived since any perceived or actual imbalance in the treatment of coalition partners, or changes to leadership in the coalition partners themselves, can very easily result in the coalition partner withdrawing its support from the government.

Biased media has been accused of causing political instability, resulting in the obstruction of democracy, rather than its promotion. Democracy in modern times has almost always faced opposition from the previously existing government, and many times it has faced opposition from social elites. The implementation of a democratic government within a non-democratic state is typically brought about by democratic revolution. Several philosophers and researchers have outlined historical and social factors seen as supporting the evolution of democracy. Other commentators have mentioned the influence of economic development. Douglas M. Gibler and Andrew Owsiak in their study argued about the importance of peace and stable borders for the development of democracy.

It has often been assumed that democracy causes peace , but this study shows that, historically, peace has almost always predated the establishment of democracy. Carroll Quigley concludes that the characteristics of weapons are the main predictor of democracy: [] [] Democracy—this scenario—tends to emerge only when the best weapons available are easy for individuals to obtain and use. Governments couldn't do any better: it became the age of mass armies of citizen soldiers with guns. Other theories stressed the relevance of education and of human capital —and within them of cognitive ability to increasing tolerance, rationality, political literacy and participation. Two effects of education and cognitive ability are distinguished: [] [ need quotation to verify ] [] [].

Evidence consistent with conventional theories of why democracy emerges and is sustained has been hard to come by. Statistical analyses have challenged modernisation theory by demonstrating that there is no reliable evidence for the claim that democracy is more likely to emerge when countries become wealthier, more educated, or less unequal. The assumed link between education and economic growth is called into question when analyzing empirical evidence. Across different countries, the correlation between education attainment and math test scores is very weak.

A similarly weak relationship exists between per-pupil expenditures and math competency. Additionally, historical evidence suggests that average human capital measured using literacy rates of the masses does not explain the onset of industrialization in France from to despite arguments to the contrary. Instead, the evidence implies that education provision often falls short of its expressed goals, or, alternatively, that political actors use education to promote goals other than economic growth and development.

Neither is there convincing evidence that increased reliance on oil revenues prevents democratisation, despite a vast theoretical literature on " the Resource Curse " that asserts that oil revenues sever the link between citizen taxation and government accountability, seen as the key to representative democracy. An example of this is the disease environment.

Places with different mortality rates had different populations and productivity levels around the world. For example, in Africa, the tsetse fly —which afflicts humans and livestock—reduced the ability of Africans to plow the land. This made Africa less settled. As a consequence, political power was less concentrated. This also affected the distribution of power and the collective actions people could take. As a result, some African countries ended up having democracies and others autocracies.

An example of geographical determinants for democracy is having access to coastal areas and rivers. This natural endowment has a positive relation with economic development thanks to the benefits of trade. Rulers wanting to increase revenues had to protect property-rights to create incentives for people to invest. As more people had more power, more concessions had to be made by the ruler and in many [ quantify ] places this process lead to democracy. These determinants defined the structure of the society moving the balance of political power.

In the 21st century, democracy has become such a popular method of reaching decisions that its application beyond politics to other areas such as entertainment, food and fashion, consumerism, urban planning, education, art, literature, science and theology has been criticised as "the reigning dogma of our time". In education, the argument is that essential but more difficult studies are not undertaken. Science, as a truth -based discipline, is particularly corrupted by the idea that the correct conclusion can be arrived at by popular vote.

However, more recently, theorists [ which? Robert Michels asserts that although democracy can never be fully realised, democracy may be developed automatically in the act of striving for democracy:. The peasant in the fable, when on his deathbed, tells his sons that a treasure is buried in the field. After the old man's death the sons dig everywhere in order to discover the treasure. They do not find it. But their indefatigable labor improves the soil and secures for them a comparative well-being. The treasure in the fable may well symbolise democracy. Harald Wydra , in his book Communism and The Emergence of Democracy , maintains that the development of democracy should not be viewed as a purely procedural or as a static concept but rather as an ongoing "process of meaning formation".

Democratic political figures are not supreme rulers but rather temporary guardians of an empty place. Any claim to substance such as the collective good , the public interest or the will of the nation is subject to the competitive struggle and times of for [ clarification needed ] gaining the authority of office and government. The essence of the democratic system is an empty place, void of real people, which can only be temporarily filled and never be appropriated. The seat of power is there but remains open to constant change.

As such, people's definitions of "democracy" or of "democratic" progress throughout history as a continual and potentially never-ending process of social construction. Some democratic governments have experienced sudden state collapse and regime change to an undemocratic form of government. Domestic military coups or rebellions are the most common means by which democratic governments have been overthrown. Other types of a sudden end to democracy include:.

Democratic backsliding can end democracy in a gradual manner, by increasing emphasis on national security and eroding free and fair elections , freedom of expression , independence of the judiciary , rule of law. A famous example is the Enabling Act of , which lawfully ended democracy in Weimar Germany and marked the transition to Nazi Germany. Temporary or long-term political violence and government interference can prevent free and fair elections , which erode the democratic nature of governments. This has happened on a local level even in well-established democracies like the United States; for example, the Wilmington insurrection of and African-American disfranchisement after the Reconstruction era. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Form of government in which people have the authority to decide legislation. For representative democracy that operates under the principles of classical liberalism, see Liberal democracy. For other uses, see Democracy disambiguation and Democrat disambiguation. History Theory Criticism. Related topics. Anarchism Citizens' assembly Democratic capitalism Democratic centralism Democratic confederalism Democratic republic Democratic socialism Democratization Democracy and economic growth Democracy in Marxism Democracy promotion Kleroterion Liberalism Libertarianism Majoritarianism Motion Ochlocracy Peaceful transition of power People's democratic dictatorship Political demonstration Polyarchy Populism Sortition Tyranny of the majority Voting Wars between democracies Waves of democracy.

Source of power. Power ideology. Monarchy Republic. Authoritarian Libertarian. Global Local. Power structure. Most democratic closest to Least democratic closest to 0. Main article: History of democracy. See also: Athenian democracy. See also: freedom indices. Main article: Types of democracy. World's states coloured by form of government 1. Main article: Direct democracy. Main article: Representative democracy. Main article: Parliamentary system. Main article: Presidential system. See also: Politics of Switzerland and Voting in Switzerland. Main article: Constitutional monarchy. Main article: Republicanism. Main article: Liberal democracy. See also: Democracy in Marxism. Main article: Sortition. Main article: Consociational democracy. Main article: Consensus democracy.

Bailey v. Drexel Furniture Co. Dagenhart History of youth rights in the United States Morse v. Youth rights Society portal. Main article: Inclusive democracy. Main article: Participatory politics. Main article: Cosmopolitan democracy. Main article: Creative democracy. Main article: Guided democracy. This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. December Learn how and when to remove this template message. Main article: Criticism of democracy. Main article: Anti-democratic thought. Main articles: Democratization and Democracy promotion. Politics portal. It counted all residents for apportionment including slaves, overriding the three-fifths compromise , and reduced a state's apportionment if it wrongfully denied males over the age of 21 the right to vote; however, this was not enforced in practice.

Some poor white men remained excluded at least until passage of the Voting Rights Act of For state elections, it was not until the U. Supreme Court ruled 6—3 in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections that all state poll taxes were unconstitutional as violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This removed a burden on the poor. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 February Studies in Choice and Welfare.

Cham, Switzerland: Springer. ISBN S2CID Retrieved 5 July Quote: "There is no practical alternative to majority political rule — i. It would be next to impossible to obtain the consent of every individual before acting collectively No rational people could desire and constitute a society that had to dissolve straightaway because the majority was unable to make the final decision and the society was incapable of acting as one body. William Benton. Encyclopedia of ancient Greece. New York: Routledge. The Political Thought of Plato and Aristotle. Putnam's Sons. Archived from the original PDF on 18 February Retrieved 17 February The Economist. Economist Group. Democratic Theory. ISSN The democracy sourcebook.

Public space and democracy. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Scandinavian Political Studies. Full text. Assessing the Quality of Democracy. JHU Press. BBC News. Cambridge University Press. UK Parliament. Retrieved 18 August ; "Independence". Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. Retrieved 9 November The New Indian Express. Express Publications Madurai Limited. Retrieved 18 August The Judge in a Democracy. Princeton University Press. JSTOR Women and human development: the capabilities approach. These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. Collocations with democracy.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it. From the Hansard archive. Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3. See all collocations with democracy. Translations of democracy in Chinese Traditional. See more. Need a translator? Translator tool. What is the pronunciation of democracy? Browse demobilization. Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes. Image credits. Word of the Day service animal.

Blog Gratitude and me-time words around staying positive October 06, Read More. New Words finfluencer. October 04, To top. Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content:. Free word lists and quizzes from Cambridge. Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes.