Democracy

Democratic systems, electoral mechanics, voting

Definition

Democracy is a system of government in which political power derives from the people, exercised through voting, either directly or through elected representatives. The word comes from ancient Greek, combining "demos" (people) and "kratos" (rule or power).

Direct and representative democracy

In direct democracy, citizens vote directly on laws and policies themselves, without intermediaries - used in ancient Athens for many decisions, and still used today in some contexts like referendums, where voters directly decide a specific question. In representative democracy, by far the more common form in large states, citizens instead elect representatives who make laws and policy decisions on their behalf, since direct voting on every decision becomes impractical as a population grows large.

Elections and representation

Elections are the mechanism through which representative democracies select who holds political office, typically held at regular, defined intervals. Different democracies use different specific electoral systems (some elect a single winner per district, others allocate seats proportionally based on a party's overall vote share), which are described and compared further in the advanced article.

Separation of powers

Many democratic systems divide governmental authority among separate branches — commonly an executive branch (which implements and enforces laws), a legislative branch (which makes laws), and a judicial branch (which interprets laws and resolves disputes) - each with defined powers and some ability to check or limit the others' actions, to prevent any single branch from accumulating unchecked power.