Democracy

    Democracy means government by the people.  Democracy may be either direct, and exerted by popular assemblies or by plebiscites on all legislation, or indirect, and exerted by representative institutions.  Direct democracy was practiced in some of the city states of Ancient Greece.  Indirect democracy, which considered is better suited to modern nation states with large populations, has been in use in many parts of the world since the 17th century. 

    Modern Democracy is usually based on the theory of "separation of powers".  Legislation is carried out by a freely elected parliament, either in a government responsible to the legislature (as in the U.K.) or in a president responsible to the people (as in the U.S.).  This implies free choice at regular intervals between two or more parties; an election in while the electorate can only choose or reject a single list of candidates is not democratic in this sense of the word.

    In addition to separation of powers and free elections, other characteristics of western democracy are the rule of law, by which is meant a certainty that one is free from arrest unless charged with some recognized crime and that one will be given a fair trail before an impartial tribunal; freedom of opinion and speech; freedom of association; and protection from arbitrary interference on the part of the authorities.

Nandy, Milon, Terms & Theories in Politics, Government International Relations and the Humanities, EurAsia-Pacific Books, 1993.