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Although democracy is generally understood to be defined by voting, [1] [8] no consensus exists on a precise definition of democracy. [19] Karl Popper says that the "classical" view of democracy is, "in brief, the theory that democracy is the rule of the people and that the people have a right to rule". [20]
In addition, there are a few countries which use the term "Democratic Republic" in the name and have a good record of holding free or relatively free general elections and were rated "flawed democracy" or "full democracy" in the Democracy Index, such as the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste , the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ...
A direct democracy, or pure democracy, is a type of democracy where the people govern directly, by voting on laws and policies. It requires wide participation of citizens in politics. [ 4 ] Athenian democracy , or classical democracy, refers to a direct democracy developed in ancient times in the Greek city-state of Athens.
Also relevant to the history of direct democracy is the history of Ancient Rome, specifically during the Roman Republic, traditionally founded around 509 BC. [17] Rome displayed many aspects of democracy, both direct and indirect, from the era of Roman monarchy all the way to the collapse of the Roman Empire.
Participatory democracy is a type of democracy, which is itself a form of government. The term "democracy" is derived from the Ancient Greek: δημοκρατία, romanized: dēmokratía from δῆμος/dēmos 'people' and κράτος/kratos 'rule'. [3] It has two main subtypes, direct and representative democracy.
Representative democracy can be organized in different ways including both parliamentary and presidential systems of government. Elected representatives typically form a legislature (such as a parliament or congress), which may be composed of a single chamber (unicameral), two chambers (bicameral), or more than two chambers (multicameral).
Parliamentary democracy is the dominant form of government in the European Union, Oceania, and throughout the former British Empire, with other users scattered throughout Africa and Asia. A similar system, called a council–manager government , is used by many local governments in the United States .
To define the system in practice, liberal democracies often draw upon a constitution, either codified or uncodified, to delineate the powers of government and enshrine the social contract. A liberal democracy may take various and mixed constitutional forms: it may be a constitutional monarchy or a republic.