Democracy

Introduction

Image of the United States Constitution

Developed by the ancient Greeks and idealized by Americans, democracy is a political system in which the power of government is vested in the people or in their elected representatives. The original Greek form of democracy, called a “direct democracy” in which the people rule directly without elected officials, is not a typical form of government today, because it works only in very small communities. Most present day democracies are types of “representative democracies” where popularly elected officials actually govern. In order to succeed, a democratic state needs to recognize the equality of its citizens under law as well as certain basic freedoms such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Essential Facts

1. Democracy was first developed as a system of rule in Athens in the sixth century BC. By the time of Pericles (460 BC), Athenian democracy was an elaborate system that had an assembly, a council, and courts. All citizens could vote…but only a free adult male born in Athens of two Athenian parents was considered a citizen.
2. One of the best examples of direct democracy today comes in the form of U.S. town meetings. All citizens of the town are welcome to come and speak and vote on town decisions.
3. Most democracies today are representative democracies where the voting public is responsible for electing representatives to govern. For example, U.S. representatives to Congress are elected directly from each state. Voting for the U.S. president, however, is not as direct; citizens actually elect representatives to the Electoral College, which then votes for the president.
4. A democratic state often features a system of checks and balances so that no one part of government can gain too much power. In such a system, the legislative, judicial, and executive powers of government are split into different branches, each with the power to put a hold on something done by another branch.
5. Although democracy was developed by the ancient Greeks, the renowned Greek philosopher Plato did not think that democracy was a good form of government. Plato believed the “people” were too ignorant to rule themselves well.