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{{Democracy}}
'''Democracy''' (literally "rule by the people", from the Greek ''demos,'' "people", and ''kratos,'' "rule"<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/ebi/article-9273962 Democracy:Britannica Student Encyclopedia]</ref>) is a [[List of forms of government|form of government]]. While the term ''democracy'' is typically used in the context of a political [[state]], the principles are also applicable to other groups and organizations.
== Forms of democracy ==
{{Forms of government}}
{{Main|Democracy (varieties)}}
=== Representative ===
[[Representative democracy]] involves the selection of government officials by a majority vote of the people. Representatives may be elected by a particular district (or [[constituency]]), or represent the electorate as a whole as in many [[Proportional representation|proportional]] systems, with some using a combination of the two. Some representative democracies also incorporate elements of direct democracy, such as [[referenda]]. A characteristic of representative democracy is that while the representatives are elected by the people, to act in their interest, they retain the freedom to exercise their own judgment as how best to do so.
==== Liberal Democracy ====
[[Liberal democracy]] is a representative democracy along with the protection of minorities, the [[rule of law]], a [[separation of powers]], and protection of [[liberties]] (thus the name ''liberal'') of speech, assembly, religion, and property. Conversely, an [[illiberal democracy]] is one where the protections that form a liberal democracy are either nonexistent, or not enforced.
=== Direct Democracy===
[[Direct democracy]] is a political system where the citizens vote on major policy decisions. All direct democracies to date have been weak forms, relatively small communities, usually [[city-state]]s. However, some see the extensive use of [[referenda]], as in [[California]], as akin to direct democracy in a very large polity with more than 20 million potential voters.<ref>John M. Allswang. ''The Initiative and Referendum in California, 1898-1998'' (2000) (ISBN 0-8047-3821-1) </ref>
=== Socialist Democracy===
[[Socialism]] has several different views on democracy. [[Social democracy]], [[democratic socialism]], [[Soviet democracy]], and the [[dictatorship of the proletariat]] are some examples.
=== Anarchist Democracy ===
Some [[Anarchism|anarchists]] oppose democracy while others favor it. [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]] argued that the only acceptable form of direct democracy is one in which it is recognized that majority decisions are not binding on the minority, even when unanimous.<ref>Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. ''General Idea of the Revolution'' See also commentary by [[Robert Graham|Graham, Robert]]. [http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/ANARCHIST_ARCHIVES/proudhon/grahamproudhon.html ''The General Idea of Proudhon's Revolution'']</ref> However, [[anarcho-communist]] [[Murray Bookchin]] criticized [[individualist anarchists]] for opposing democracy<ref>Bookchin, Murray. Communalism: The Democratic Dimensions of Social Anarchism. Anarchism, Marxism and the Future of the Left: Interviews and Essays, 1993-1998, AK Press 1999, p. 155</ref>, and says "majority rule" is consistent with anarchism.<ref>Bookchin, Murray. [http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_archives/bookchin/soclife.html Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism: An Unbridgeable Chasm]</ref>
There are also some anarchists who expect society to operate by [[consensus]].{{Fact|date=May 2007}} Some anarcho-communists oppose the majoritarian nature of democracy, feeling that it can impede individual liberty and opt in favor of a non-majoritarian form of consensus.<ref>Graeber, David and Grubacic, Andrej. ''Anarchism, Or The Revolutionary Movement Of The Twenty-first Century''</ref>
=== Sortition ===
[[Sortition]] (or Allotment) has formed the basis of systems randomly selecting officers from the population. [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9068768/sortition]
=== Tribal Democracy ===
Certain [[tribe]]s such as the [[bushmen]] organized themselves using different forms of participatory democracy or consensus democracy. [http://law.cua.edu/ComparativeLaw/Iroquois/]
=== Consensus Democracy===
[[Consensus democracy]] and [[deliberative democracy]] seek [[consensus]] among the people.<ref>Amy Gutmann & Dennis Thompson, ''Why Deliberative Democracy?''. 2004, Princeton University
Press. ISBN 0691120196[http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/titles/7869.html]</ref>
== History ==
{{main|History of democracy}}
[[Image:Claims Of Demoracy.png|right|350px|thumb|Since World War II, democracy has gained widespread acceptance. This map displays the official ''"claims"'' made by world governments with regard to democracy, as of [[June 2006]]. It shows the ''[[de jure]]'' status of democracy in the world.
{{legend|#0000FF|Governments that claim to be democratic}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Governments that do not claim to be democratic.}}]]
[[Image:Freedom House world map 2007.png|thumb|350px|This map reflects the findings of [[Freedom House]]'s survey [[Freedom in the World]] 2007, which reports the state of world freedom in 2006. It is one of the most widely used measures of democracy by researchers. [http://polisci.la.psu.edu/faculty/Casper/caspertufisPAweb.pdf]
{{legend|#219A57|Free.}} Freedom House considers these to be liberal democracies. [http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=35&year=2005]
{{legend|#FFC27B|Partly Free}}
{{legend|#B30000|Not Free}}]]
[[Image:Freedom House Country Rankings 1972-2005.png|thumb|350px|This graph shows [[Freedom House]]'s evaluation of the number of nations in the different categories given above for the period for which there are surveys, [[1972]]-[[2005]]]]
[[Image:Number of nations 1800-2003 scoring 8 or higher on Polity IV scale.png|thumb|right|350px|Number of nations [[1800]]-[[2003]] scoring 8 or higher on [[Polity IV]] scale, another widely used measure of democracy.]]
[[Image:Democracyindex2.png|thumb|350px|Still another measure of democracy is [[The Economist]]'s [[Democracy Index]]. The palest blue countries get a score above 9, while the black countries score below 2.]]
[[Image:Freedom House electoral democracies 2006.png|thumb|350px|Countries highlighted in <span style="color: #0f7198">'''blue'''</span> are designated "[[representative democracy|Electoral Democracies]]" in Freedom House's 2006 survey [http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/pdf/essay2006.pdf Freedom in the World].]]
=== Ancient origins ===
The word ''democracy'' was coined in [[ancient Greece]]. Although [[Athenian democracy]] is today considered by many to have been a form of direct democracy, originally it had two distinguishing features: firstly the allotment (selection by lot) of ordinary citizens to government offices and courts,<ref>Aristotle Book 6</ref> and secondarily the assembly of all the citizens. All the Athenian citizens were eligible to speak and vote in the Assembly, which set the laws of the city-state, but neither political rights, nor citizenship, were granted to [[women]], [[slaves]], or [[metics]]. Of the 250,000 inhabitants only some 30,000 on average were citizens. Of those 30,000 perhaps 5,000 might regularly attend one or more meetings of the popular Assembly. Most of the officers and magistrates of Athenian government were allotted; only the generals ([[strategoi]]) and a few other officers were elected. <!-- this link is incoherent, please fix <ref>Hansen (1999, 231–2).</ref>--><ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml]</ref>
One of the earliest instances of civilizations with democracy, or sometimes disputed as [[oligarchy]], was found in the [[republic]]s of [[Kingdoms of Ancient India|ancient India]], which were established sometime before the [[6th century BC]], and prior to the birth of [[Gautama Buddha]]. These republics were known as [[Mahajanapadas|Maha Janapadas]], and among these states, [[Vaishali (ancient city)|Vaishali]] (in what is now [[Bihar]], [[India]]) would be the world's first republic. The democratic [[Sangha]], [[Gana]] and [[Panchayat]] systems were used in some of these republics; the Panchayat system is still used today in Indian villages. Later during the time of [[Alexander the Great]] in the [[4th century BC]], the [[Greeks]] wrote about the Sabarcae and Sambastai states in what is now [[Pakistan]] and [[Afghanistan]], whose "form of government was democratic and not regal" according to Greek scholars at the time.<ref>[http://www.nipissingu.ca/department/history/MUHLBERGER/HISTDEM/INDIADEM.HTM Democracy in Ancient India]. Steve Muhlberger, Associate Professor of History, [[Nipissing University]].</ref> <!-- hiding incoherent link, ISBN? <ref> The Age of Imperial Kannauj, History and Culture of Indian People, 1964, p 45, Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D. Pusalkar.</ref>-->
The [[Roman Republic]] had elections but again women, slaves, and the large foreign population were excluded. The votes of the wealthy were given more weight and almost all high officials come from a few noble families. [http://annourbis.com/Ancient-Rome/8rome10.html]
Democracy was also seen to a certain extent in [[band society|bands]] and [[tribe]]s such as the [[Iroquois Confederacy]]. However, in the Iroquois Confederacy only the males of certain clans could be leaders and some clans were excluded. Only the oldest females from the same clans could choose and remove the leaders. This excluded most of the population. An interesting detail is that there should be consensus among the leaders, not majority support decided by [[voting]], when making decisions.[http://www.iroquoisdemocracy.pdx.edu/html/activity4.htm] [http://scholar.google.se/url?sa=U&q=http://www.ssc.upenn.edu/~rousseau/IRO.PDF] [[Band societies]], such as the [[bushmen]], which usually number 20-50 people in the band often do not have leaders and make decisions based on consensus among the majority.
=== Middle Ages ===
During the [[Middle Ages]], there were various systems involving elections or assemblies, although often only involving a minority of the population, such as the election of [[Gopala (Pala king)|Gopala]] in [[Bengal]], the [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]], the [[Althing]] in [[Iceland]], certain [[medieval Italy|medieval Italian]] city-states such as [[Venice]], the [[tuatha]] system in early medieval [[Ireland]], the [[Veche]] in [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] countries, [[Scandinavia]]n [[Thing (assembly)|Things]] and the autonomous merchant city of [[Sakai, Osaka|Sakai]] in the 16th century in Japan. However, participation were often restricted to a minority, and so may be better classified as [[oligarchy]]. Most regions during the middle-ages were ruled by clergy or feudal lords.
The [[Parliament of England]] had its roots in the restrictions on the power of kings written into [[Magna Carta]]. The first elected parliament was [[De Montfort's Parliament]] in England in 1265. However only a small minority actually had a voice; Parliament was elected by only a few percent of the population (less than 3% in 1780. [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/struggle_democracy/getting_vote.htm]), and the system had problematic features such as [[rotten boroughs]]. The power to call parliament was at the pleasure of the monarch (usually when he or she needed funds). After the [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688, the [[English Bill of Rights]] was enacted in [[1689]], which codified certain rights and increased the influence of the Parliament. [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/rise_parliament/making_history_rise.htm] The franchise was slowly increased and the Parliament gradually gained more power until the monarch became entirely a figurehead. [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/struggle_democracy/getting_vote.htm]
=== 18th and 19th centuries ===
Although not described as a democracy by the [[founding fathers]], the [[United States]] can be seen as the first liberal democracy.[http://www.oxonianreview.org/issues/2-2/2-2-6.htm] The [[United States Constitution]], adopted in 1788, provided for an elected government and protected civil rights and liberties. Already in the colonial period before 1776 most adult white men could vote; there were still property requirements but most men owned their own farms and could pass the tests. Enslaved Africans, free Blacks and women were not extended the franchise. On the [[Frontier Thesis|American frontier]], democracy became a way of life, with widespread social, economic and political equality.<ref>Ray Allen Billington, ''America's Frontier Heritage'' (1974) 117-158. ISBN 0826303102 </ref> However the frontier did not produce much democracy in [[Canada]], [[Australia]] or [[Russia]]. By 1840s almost all property restrictions were ended and nearly all white adult male citizens could vote; and turnout averaged 60-80% in frequent elections for local, state and national officials. The system gradually evolved, from [[Jeffersonian Democracy]] to [[Jacksonian Democracy]] and beyond. In [[Reconstruction]] after the Civil War (late 1860s) the newly freed slaves became citizens with (in the case of men) the right to vote.
In 1789, [[Revolutionary France]] adopted the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] and, although short-lived, the [[National Convention]] was elected by all males. [http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc2/lectures/rev892.html]
Liberal democracies were few and often short-lived before the late nineteenth century. Various nations and territories have claimed to be the first with [[universal suffrage]].
=== 20th Century ===
20th century transitions to liberal democracy have come in successive "waves of democracy," variously resulting from wars, revolutions, [[decolonization]], and economic circumstances. [[World War I]] and the dissolution of the [[Ottoman empire|Ottoman]] and [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] empires resulted in the creation of new nation-states in Europe, most of them nominally democratic. In the 1920s democracy flourished, but the [[Great Depression]] brought disenchantment, and most the countries of Europe, Latin America, and Asia turned to strong-man rule or dictatorships. [[Fascism]] and dictatorships flourished in [[Nazi Germany]], Italy, Spain and Portugal, as well as nondemocratic regimes in Poland, the Baltics, the Balkans, Brazil, Cuba, China, and Japan, among others. Together with Stalin's regime in the [[Soviet Union]], these made the 1930s the "Age of Dictators" [http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:jCe2MTKLhzAJ:www.snl.depaul.edu/contents/current/syllabi/HC_314.doc+Stalin+1930%27s+%22Age+of+Dictators%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&lr=lang_en].
[[World War II]] brought a definitive reversal of this trend in western Europe. The successful democratization of the [[Allied Control Council|American, British, and French sectors of occupied Germany]], Austria, Italy, and the [[occupied Japan]] served as a model for the later theory of [[regime change]]. However, most of [[Eastern Europe]], including the [[German Democratic Republic|Soviet sector of Germany]] was forced into the non-democratic [[Soviet bloc]]. The war was followed by [[decolonization]], and again most of the new independent states had nominally democratic constitutions. In the decades following World War II, most western democratic nations had [[mixed economy|mixed economies]] and developed a [[welfare state]], reflecting a general consensus among their electorates and political parties. In the 1950s and 1960s, economic growth was high in both the western and [[communism|Communist]] countries; it later declined in the state-controlled economies. By 1960, the vast majority of nation-states were nominally democracies, although the majority of the world's populations lived in nations that experienced sham elections, and other forms of subterfuge (particularly in Communist nations and the former colonies.)
A subsequent wave of [[democratization]] brought substantial gains toward true liberal democracy for many nations. Spain, Portugal, and several of the military dictatorships in [[South America]] became democratic in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This was followed by nations in [[East Asia|East]] and [[South Asia]] by the mid- to late 1980s. Economic malaise in the 1980s, along with resentment of communist oppression, contributed to the [[History of the Soviet Union (1985-1991)|collapse of the Soviet Union]], the associated end of the [[Cold War]], and the democratization and [[liberalization]] of the former [[Eastern bloc]] countries. The most successful of the new democracies were those geographically and culturally closest to western Europe, and they are now members or candidate members of the [[European Union]]. The liberal trend spread to some nations in [[Africa]] in the 1990s, most prominently in [[South Africa]]. Some recent examples include the [[Indonesian Revolution of 1998]], the [[5th October Overthrow|Bulldozer Revolution]] in [[Yugoslavia]], the [[Rose Revolution]] in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], the [[Orange Revolution]] in [[Ukraine]], the [[Cedar Revolution]] in [[Lebanon]], and the [[Tulip Revolution]] in [[Kyrgyzstan]].
The number of liberal democracies currently stands at an all-time high and has been growing without interruption for some time. As such, it has been speculated that this trend may continue in the future to the point where liberal democratic nation-states become the universal standard form of human [[society]]. This prediction forms the core of [[Francis Fukayama]]'s "[[The End of History and the Last Man|End of History]]" theory.
== Theory ==
=== Aristotle ===
[[Aristotle]] contrasted rule by the many (democracy/[[polity]]), with rule by the few ([[oligarchy]]/[[aristocracy]]), and with rule by a single person ([[tyranny]]/[[monarchy]] or today [[autocracy]]). He also thought that there was a good and a bad variant of each system (he considered democracy to be the degenerate counterpart to polity). [http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/Ockham/y6704.html] [http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/aristotl.htm].
===
Among political theorists, there are many contending conceptions of democracy.
* ''Aggregative democracy'' uses democratic processes to solicit citizens’ preferences and then aggregate them together to determine what social policies society should adopt. Therefore, proponents of this view hold that democratic participation should primarily focus on [[voting]], where the policy with the most votes gets implemented. There are different variants of this: 4
** Under ''minimalism'', democracy is a system of government in which citizens give teams of political leaders the right to rule in periodic elections. According to this minimalist conception, citizens cannot and should not “rule” because, for example, on most issues, most of the time, they have no clear views or their views are not well-founded. [[Joseph Schumpeter]] articulated this view most famously in his book ''Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy'' <ref>[[Joseph Schumpeter]], (1950). ''Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy''. Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-06-133008-6.</ref>. Contemporary proponents of minimalism include [[William H. Riker]], [[Adam Przeworski]], [[Richard Posner]].
** [[Direct democracy]], on the other hand, holds that citizens should participate directly, not through their representatives, in making laws and policies. Proponents of direct democracy offer varied reasons to support this view. Political activity can be valuable in itself, it socializes and educates citizens, and popular participation can check powerful elites. Most importantly, citizens do not really rule themselves unless they directly decide laws and policies.
** Government should produce laws and policies that are close to the views of the median voter — with half to his left and the other half to his right. [[Anthony Downs]] laid out this view in his 1957 book ''An Economic Theory of Democracy''.<ref>[[Anthony Downs]], (1957). ''An Economic Theory of Democracy''. Harpercollins College. ISBN 0-06-041750-1.</ref>
** [[Robert A. Dahl]] argues that the fundamental democratic principle is that, when it comes to binding collective decisions, each person in a political community is entitled to have his/her interests be given equal consideration (not necessarily that all people are equally satisfied by the collective decision). He uses the term [[polyarchy]] to refer to societies in which there exists a certain set of institutions and procedures which are perceived as leading to such democracy. First and foremost among these institutions is the regular occurrence of free and open [[elections]] which are used to select representatives who then manage all or most of the public policy of the society. However, these polyarchic procedures may not create a full democracy if, for example, poverty prevents political participation.<ref>[[Robert A. Dahl|Dahl, Robert]], (1989). ''Democracy and its Critics.'' New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300049382</ref> Some see a problem with the wealthy having more influence and therefore argue for reforms like [[campaign finance reform]]. Some may see it as a problem that the majority of the voters decide policy, as opposed to majority rule of the entire population. This can be used as an argument for making political participation mandatory, like compulsory [[voting]] <!-- hiding, need info about publisher of this article, please fix <ref>[http://www.apsanet.org/imgtest/verba.pdf]</ref>--> or for making it more patient (non-compulsory) by simply refusing power to the government until the full majority feels inclined to speak their minds.
* ''[[Deliberative democracy]]'' is based on the notion that democracy is government by discussion. Deliberative democrats contend that laws and policies should be based upon reasons that all citizens can accept. The political arena should be one in which leaders and citizens make arguments, listen, and change their minds.
* ''[[Radical democracy]]'' is based on the idea that there are hierarchical and oppressive power relations that exist in society. Democracy's role is to make visible and challenge those relations by allowing for difference, dissent and antagonisms in decision making processes.
* ''[[Minoritarianism]] '' is a [[political philosophy]] where various minorities are given some degree of [[minority rule]].
=== "Democracy" and "Republic" ===
In historical usages and especially when considering the works of the [[Founding Fathers of the United States]], the word "democracy" refers solely to [[direct democracy]], while a [[representative democracy]] where representatives of the people are elected and whose power to govern is limited by [[laws]] enshrined in a [[constitution]] is referred to as a [[constitutional republic]]. Note that the US constitution states that the power comes from the people "We the people..." However, some argue that unlike a [[Direct democracy|pure democracy]], in a constitutional republic, citizens in the US are not governed by the majority of the people but by the rule of law.<ref>Levinson, Sanford. ''Constitutional Faith''. Princeton University Press, 1989, p. 60 ISBN 0691023212</ref> Constitutional Republics are a deliberate attempt to diminish the threat of [[mobocracy]] thereby protecting [[minority]] groups from the [[tyranny of the majority]] by placing checks on the power of the majority of the population. [[Thomas Jefferson]] stated that majority rights cannot exist if individual rights do not.<ref>Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1789. ME 7:455, Papers 15:393
</ref> The power of the majority of the people is ''checked'' by limiting that power to electing representatives who govern within limits of overarching constitutional law rather than the popular vote or government having power to deny any [[inalienable right]]<ref>Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, 1797. ME 9:422 </ref>. Moreover, the power of elected representatives is also checked by prohibitions against any single individual having legislative, judicial, and executive powers so that basic constitutional law is extremely difficult to change. [[John Adams]] defined a constitutional republic as "a government of laws, and not of men."<!-- hiding bad ref, year appears wrong, please verify and fix <ref>Levinson, Sanford. ''Constitutional Faith''. Princeton University Press, 1989, p. 60</ref>-->
The original framers of the [[United States Constitution]] were notably [[wikt:cognizant|cognizant]] of what they perceived as a danger of majority rule in oppressing freedom and [[liberty]] of the individual. For example, [[James Madison]], in [[Federalist Papers|Federalist Paper No. 10]], advocates a constitutional republic over a democracy to protect the individual from the majority. <ref>James Madison, ([[November 22]], [[1787]]). [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Federalist_Papers/No._10 "The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection"], ''Daily Advertiser''. [[New York]]. Republished by [[Wikisource]].</ref> The framers carefully created the institutions within the Constitution and the [[United States Bill of Rights]]. They kept what they believed were the best elements of majority rule. But they were mitigated by a constitution with protections for individual liberty, a [[separation of powers]], and a layered federal structure. [[Inalienable rights]] refers to a set of human rights that are not awarded by human power, and cannot be surrendered.<ref>Declaration of US Independence http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/declaration_transcript.html></ref> The [[Constitution of the United States]] was written to protect the [[inalienable rights]] of citizens from potential excesses of government, even if taken by [[majority rule]]. Inalienable rights are not granted by government, but by nature.<ref>Thomas Jefferson to William Johnson, 1823. ME 15:441</ref>
Using the term "democracy" to refer solely to direct democracy, or to representative democracy without checks on the power of elected officials, retains some popularity in United States [[American conservatism|conservative]] and [[Libertarian Party (United States)|libertarian]] circles.
In contemporary western usage, the term "democracy" usually refers to a government chosen by the people, whether it is direct or representative. [http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/democracy] 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 [[head of government]] such as a [[Prime Minister]].Therefore, today the term is used by states which are quite different from the earlier use of the term, such as the the former [[German Democratic Republic]] and the [[USSR]].
[[Republicanism]] and [[Liberalism]] have complex relationships to democracy and republic. See these articles for more details.
=== Constitutional monarchs and upper chambers ===
Initially after the American and French revolutions the question was open whether a democracy, in order to restrain unchecked majority rule, should have an elitist [[upper chamber]], the members perhaps appointed meritorious experts or having lifetime tenures, or should have a [[constitutional monarch]] with limited but real powers. Some countries (as Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavian countries and Japan) turned powerful monarchs into constitutional monarchs with limited or, often gradually, merely symbolic roles. Often the monarchy was abolished along with the aristocratic system (as in the U.S., France, China, Russia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Greece and Egypt). Many nations had elite upper houses of legislatures which often had lifetime tenure, but eventually these senates lost power (as in Britain) or else became elective and remained powerful (as in the United States).
== Democracy Within International Associations of Nations ==
===The European Parliament===
"The European Parliament is the only supranational institution whose members are democratically elected by direct universal suffrage. It represents the people of the Member States."<ref>How Parliament is organised. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/staticDisplay.do?id=45&language=en</ref>
===North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)===
NATO presently practices a form of [[Consensus democracy]] "All NATO decisions are made by consensus, after discussion and consultation among member countries." "Consensus has been accepted as the sole basis for decision-making in NATO since the creation of the Alliance in 1949. This principle remains in place."<ref>NATO Topics. http://www.nato.int/issues/consensus/index.html</ref> NATO is the international example of an actual consensus democracy of longest tenure.
== Arguments for and against ==
For criticisms of and arguments for specific forms of democracy, see the appropriate article. Advantages and disadvantages of one form of democracy do not necessarily apply to other forms. Some [[far right]], [[far left]], [[theocracy|theocratic]], [[anarchist]], and [[monarchism|monarchist]] groups oppose all forms of democracy.
== Beyond the public level ==
While this article deals mainly with democracy as a system to rule countries, voting and representation have been used to govern many other kinds of communities and organizations.
* Many [[non-governmental organisations]] decide policy and leadership by voting.
* In business, corporations elect their boards by votes weighed by the number of [[share]]s held by each owner.
* [[Trade union]]s sometimes choose their leadership through democratic elections. In the U.S. democratic elections were rare before Congress required them in the 1950s.<!-- hiding, title or year appears wrong, which book is this? <ref> Seymour Martin Lipset, ''Union Democracy'' (1962)</ref>-->
* [[Cooperatives]] are enterprises owned and democratically controlled by their customers or workers.
== Definitions of the WORD Democracy ==
Democracy is both a word and a concept, and these are quite intimately linked concepts. Dictionaries define "democracy as":
:*"Government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system." <ref>"democracy." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 22 May. 2007. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/democracy>.</ref>
:*"Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives."<ref>"democracy." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 22 May. 2007. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/democracy>.</ref>
:*"A political or social unit that has such a government."<ref>"democracy." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 22 May. 2007. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/democracy>.</ref>
:*"The common people, considered as the primary source of political power."<ref>"democracy." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 22 May. 2007. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/democracy>.</ref>
:*"Majority rule."<ref>"democracy." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 22 May. 2007. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/democracy>.</ref>
:*"The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community."<ref>"democracy." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 22 May. 2007. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/democracy>.</ref>
== See also ==
{{wikiquote}}
{{wiktionarypar|democracy}}
* [[Deliberative democracy]]
* [[Democratic Peace Theory]]
* [[List of types of democracy]]
* [[Poll]]
* [[Media democracy]]
* [[Islamic democracy]]
* [[Sociocracy]]
== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}
== Further reading ==
* Joyce Appleby, ''Liberalism and Republicanism in the Historical Imagination'' (1992)
* Becker, Peter, Juergen Heideking and James A. Henretta, eds. ''Republicanism and Liberalism in America and the German States, 1750-1850.'' Cambridge University Press. 2002.
* Benhabib, Seyla, ed., ''Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political'' (Princeton University Press, 1996)
* [[Charles Blattberg]], ''From Pluralist to Patriotic Politics: Putting Practice First'', Oxford University Press, 2000, ch. 5. ISBN 0-19-829688-6
* Castiglione, Dario. "Republicanism and its Legacy," ''European Journal of Political Theory'' (2005) v 4 #4 pp 453-65.[http://www.huss.ex.ac.uk/politics/research/readingroom/CastiglioneRepublicanism.pdf#search=%22republicanism%20historiography%22 online version]
* Copp, David, Jean Hampton, and John E. Roemer, eds. ''The Idea of Democracy'' Cambridge University Press (1993)
* Dahl, Robert. ''Democracy and its Critics'', Yale University Press (1989)
* Dahl, Robert. ''On Democracy'' Yale University Press, 2000
* Dahl, Robert. Ian Shapiro, and Jose Antonio Cheibub, eds, ''The Democracy Sourcebook'' MIT Press 2003
* Davenport, Christian. [http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521864909 ''State Repression and the Domestic Democratic Peace''] Cambridge University Press (2007)
* Diamond, Larry and Marc Plattner, ''The Global Resurgence of Democracy'', 2nd edition Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996
* Diamond, Larry and Richard Gunther, eds. ''Political Parties and Democracy'' (2001)
* Diamond, Larry and Leonardo Morlino, eds. ''Assessing the Quality of Democracy'' (2005)
* Diamond, Larry, Marc F. Plattner, and Philip J. Costopoulos, eds. ''World Religions and Democracy'' (2005)
* Diamond, Larry, Marc F. Plattner, and Daniel Brumberg, eds. ''Islam and Democracy in the Middle East'' (2003)
* Elster, Jon (ed.). ''Deliberative Democracy'' Cambridge University Press (1997)
* Gabardi, Wayne. "Contemporary Models of Democracy," ''Polity'' 33#4 (2001) pp 547+.
* Held, David. ''Models of Democracy'' Stanford University Press, (1996), reviews the major interpretations
* Inglehart, Ronald. ''Modernization and Postmodernization. Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Societies'' Princeton University Press. 1997.
* Khan, L. Ali, ''A Theory of Universal Democracy.'' Martinus Nijhoff Publishers(2003)
* Lijphart, Arend. ''Patterns of Democracy. Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries'' Yale University Press (1999)
* Lipset, Seymour Martin. “Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy”, American Political Science Review, (1959) 53 (1): 69-105. online at JSTOR
* Macpherson, C. B. ''The Life and Times of Liberal Democracy.'' Oxford University Press (1977)
* Edmund Morgan, ''Inventing the People: The Rise of Popular Sovereignty in England and America'' (1989)
* Plattner, Marc F. and Aleksander Smolar, eds. ''Globalization, Power, and Democracy'' (2000)
* Plattner, Marc F. and João Carlos Espada, eds. ''The Democratic Invention'' (2000)
* Putnam, Robert. ''Making Democracy Work'' Princeton University Press. (1993)
* Raaflaub, Kurt A.; Ober, Josiah; Wallace, Robert W. ''Origins of democracy in ancient Greece''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007 (hardcover, ISBN 0520245628).
* Riker, William H., ''[[The Theory of Political Coalitions]] (1962)
* Sen, Amartya K. “Democracy as a Universal Value”, ''Journal of Democracy'' (1999) 10 (3): 3-17.
* Weingast, Barry. “The Political Foundations of the Rule of Law and Democracy”, ''American Political Science Review,'' (1997) 91 (2): 245-263. online at JSTOR
* Whitehead, Laurence ed. ''Emerging Market Democracies: East Asia and Latin America'' (2002)
* Wood, Gordon S. '' The Radicalism of the American Revolution'' (1993), examines democratic dimensions of republicanism
== External links ==
{{linkfarm}}
* [http://www.journalofdemocracy.org Journal of Democracy]
* {{dmoz|Society/Politics/Democracy/}}
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/democracy Democracy] at the [[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]
* [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-78 Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Democracy]
* [http://www.democracywatch.org Democracy Watch (International)] — Worldwide democracy monitoring organization.
* [http://www.ifes.org IFES — supporting the building of democratic societies around the world]
* [http://www.democracyatlarge.org ''Democracy at large'' magazine — a quarterly magazine designed for professionals interested in democracy development worldwide]
* [http://topics.developmentgateway.org/governance dgGovernance] — Collection of resources on key issues of democracy and nation-building
* [http://www.ecoledelademocratie.org the site of the Association for the School of Democracy] a university-level research and training pluri- and transdisciplinary school of democracy
* [http://bostonreview.net/BR28.2/abou.html "Islam and the Challenge of Democracy"] by [[UCLA]] law professor [[Khaled Abou El Fadl]] in the April/May 2003 issue of ''[[Boston Review]]''
* [http://www.nytimes.com/cfr/international/20040901facomment_v83n4_siegle-weinstein-halperin.html New York Times argument against the "Development first, democracy later" idea]
* [http://www.fareedzakaria.com/articles/other/democracy.html ''The Rise of Illiberal Democracy''] by Fareed Zakaria
* [http://www.idea.int/ The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance]
* [http://www.opendemocracy.net openDemocracy] — [[Global democracy]] network using information, participation and debate to empower citizens.
* [http://www.polity.co.uk/book.asp?ref=9780745613819 Cosmopolitan democracy]
* [http://www.researchmethods.org/demomeasure Technologies of Measuring Democracy]
* [http://www.omedia.org/Show_Article.asp?DynamicContentID=2044&MenuID=719&ThreadID=1014008 The Danger of Democratic Self-Destruction,]
* [http://dca.tufts.edu/features/aas A New Nation Votes: American Elections Returns 1787-1825]
*[http://www.ncert.nic.in/textbooks/testing/Index.htm locate textbook for children of age group 14 to 16 on Democracy]You can download the soft versions of these books from this site by ''Selecting Class'' '''CLASS IX''' ''Selecting Subject'' '''Political Science''' ''Selecting Book title'' '''Political Science'''
;Critique
* [http://www.gegenstandpunkt.com/english/state/toc.html The Democratic State - A Critique of Bourgeois Sovereignty]
* [http://www.riff-raff.se/en/7/undemocracy.php Riff-Raff] — Democracy as the Community of Capital - A Provisional Critique of Democracy
* ''The Crisis of Representative Democracy''. Frankfurt a. M./Bern/New York: Peter Lang, 1987. Ed. by [[Hans Köchler]]. ISBN 3-8204-8843-X
* [http://blackthumb.wordpress.com/2006/12/05/democracy-liberty-equality/ Democracy, Liberty, Equality] What is the relation between democracy and liberalism? (A Dialogue)
* [http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/democracy.html Why democracy is wrong]
* [http://www.lewrockwell.com/hoppe/hoppe4.html ''Democracy, The God That Failed'' by Hans-Hermann Hoppe]
* [http://www.conservativeclassics.com/books/libertybk/BK08.PDF ''Liberty or Equality'' by Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn]
* [http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0105/0105churchilldem.htm ''Churchill on Democracy Revisited'' by J.K. Baltzersen]
* [http://www.iefd.org/index.php The INTERNATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY, progressive scholarship, critiques of democracy.]
;Alternatives and improvements - see also [http://www.wikocracy.com Wikocracy], [[E-democracy]] and [[Futarchy]]
* [http://www.republic.org.uk Republic ]
* [http://www.philosophyparadise.com/essays/democraticmanifesto.html Democratic Manifesto]
* [http://www.globalpublic.org Conducting new experiments with democracy], ''Ethics & Democracy''
* [http://www.greens.org/s-r/36/36-22.html Democratic Deficit]
* [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~DRBR/lowell2.html ''On Democracy'' by James Russell Lowell]
* [http://simpol.org simpol.org] — Plan to limit global competition and facilitate the emergence of a sustainable, sane global civilization.
* [http://www.sfgd.org Students for Global Democracy]
* [http://www.johannesheinrichs.de/pdf/democracy.pdf Fourfold Social Order (The four-way-path-model of a future democracy)]
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