What does the Greek word democracy mean?
The word “democracy” comes from two Greek words that mean people (demos) and rule (kratos). Democracy is the idea that the citizens of a country should take an active role in the government of their country and manage it directly or through elected representatives.
What is the literal definition of democracy?
The word ‘democracy’ has its origins in the Greek language. It combines two shorter words: ‘demos’ meaning whole citizen living within a particular city-state and ‘kratos’ meaning power or rule. A belief in shared power: based on a suspicion of concentrated power (whether by individuals, groups or governments).
What is the legal definition of a democracy?
Browse US Legal Forms’ largest database of 85k state and industry-specific legal forms. Democracy is a political system where the legitimacy of exercising power stems from consent of people. A constitutional government exists in a democracy and power of the leader is checked and restrained.
How are laws made in a direct democracy?
In a pure or “direct” democracy, the citizens as a whole have the power to make all laws directly at the ballot box. Today, some U.S. states empower their citizens to make state laws through a form of direct democracy known as the ballot initiative.
What are the different types of Democracies?
Types of democracies are classified according to various distinguishing features, including constitutional democracy, democratic socialism, Jeffersonian democracy, liberal democracy, parliamentary democracy, or presidential democracy, to name a few.
What makes a democracy a defective form of government?
Other causes for defective democracies include their path of modernization, level of modernization, economic trends, social capital, civil society, political institutions, and education. To understand what makes a democracy defective, one must establish what a healthy democratic form of government is.