What is democracy and what are its historical origins?
116151
The concept of democracy started in Ancient Greece. It was meant to be a government for the people by the people.
551163
The concept of Democracy was started by the Greeks.
960278
Welll, I'll give it a go.  I think early America -- meaning pre-1776 (before the Declaration of Independence and the advent of the Constitution) -- was a "working democracy".  Technically, during this time, most of the country was under the monarchy of the English king.  And, the British Parliament increasingly enacted most of the laws that governed the area.  So, I would say it was not a democracy; it was, in fact, a monarchy under a king.\n\nHowever, the reason I believe it was a "working democracy" is because the colonists, being far from their homelands, had to rely on each other and, in effect, form a working democracy to communally enact laws and rules of living in order to survive the harshness of their circumstances.  In doing so, they became fiercely loyal to each other, rather than to the King.  They also loved the freedom they were experiencing, despite the hardships.\n\nAs time went on and the colonies grew, the British Parliament became ever more intrusive into their lives.  They began to resent the ever-increasing restrictions, rules, and especially taxations burdened on them by the British Parliament.  And so, they joined together to rid themselves of the British monarchy forever and to form a new nation.  They formed the "United Colonies" and then the "United States.  \n\nI'd say they were a working democracy (meaning that the people, i.e., the colonists, from the very first settlement in the New World formed their own  government of the people and by majority rule, based primarily on the need for the majority to survive) that then became a formalized democracy through the Declaration of Independence and the enactment of the Constitution.
495655
That's a very good question.  I would say the quality of a democratic government depends on how democratic the government actually is and also on how capable of making wise decisions the people of the country are.  The ancient Greeks were among the first people to have democratic governments, and in their literature we can read about democratic governments that were disastrous because of the unwise decisions the people made.  That led some Greek philosophers to theorize that the best form of government would be a benevolent dictatorship by a person so wise that they would have preferred not to be in power, but accepted it as their duty, but that because of the instability of that situation, a democracy was the next best thing.  In modern times, we have seen many governments that claimed to be democracies but in reality were dictatorships of a rather less benevolent kind.  The founding fathers of the United States (by the way, I am from the USA) wisely formed a government of checks and balances, where the people of the country had a voice, but no one institution had absolute authority.  I would say that in our country today, democracy is sometimes in danger of being compromised by the influence of powerful business and special interest groups over corrupt politicians, and by the apathy of many voters who are not as informed about political issues as they could be.  But overall, the institutions are sound and democratic, so I would give the U.S. good grades as a quality democracy overall.
1033279
No, a parliamentary democracy is by far the most representative form of democracy that has been created thus far. Don't blow it.
711006
A pure form of democracy in which considerable power is wielded by the general public. For instance, the initiative, referendum, and recall are all devices of direct democracy.
81163
To have suffrage is to have the right to vote. It comes from the Latin word suffragium, which means voting tablet or the vote itself, and eventually came to mean the right to vote itself. For instance the Italian provinces were admitted to citizenship "sine suffrago," without the right to vote.
264609
What's great about democracy? is there really one? are we really free? freedom is total utopia... in a democracy, the capitalists rule, the politicians desecrate the laws they themselves constructed, the state swings to whomever holds the ball, and the people are taken in for a ride. thats the pitiful scenario everyday, the poison pill we take each day. why?, we will never be free coz, laws should be taken into consideration and if their are laws to govern us, there is no freedom... and without freedom, there is no true democracy.
174829
suffrage\n\n    Definition:\n    (1) a vote given in deciding a disputed question or in electing a person to office\n    *(2) the right of voting : franchise; also : the exercise of such right\n\n    (* Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.)\n\n    Example sentence: The ratification of the 19th Amendment on August 26, 1920, ended a vigorous campaign for women's suffrage.\n\n    Did you know?\n\n        Why would a 17th-century writer warn people that a chapel was only for "private or secret suffrages"? Because since the 14th century, suffrage has been used to mean "prayer" (especially a prayer requesting divine help or intercession). So how did suffrage come to mean "a vote" or "the right to vote"? To answer that, we must look to the word's Latin ancestor, suffragium, which can be translated as "vote," "support," or "prayer." That term produced descendants in a number of languages, and English picked up its senses of suffrage from two different places. We took the "prayer" sense from a Middle French suffragium offspring that emphasized the word's spiritual aspects, and we elected to adopt the "voting" senses directly from the original Latin.
58398
Democracy is not what our Founders created not is it what they wanted.  In fact they feared it.\n\nAs the Founders knew, democracy is the path to dictatorship.  \n\nIt is neither desired nor is it sustainable.
267775
Democracy is a system where the population of a society controls the government. It may be narrowly defined as that of nation-state government specifically, or more broadly to describe a society as a whole, which can also exert political power and social power.\n\nDemocratic government aspires to serve under "the people" rather than ruling over them. This ideal is pursued by implementing some form of a voting system, usually involving indirect representation (see also republic).\n\nIndia is worlds largest Democracy.
723952
§Democratization is the process by which a country becomes a democracy.\n§Consolidation is successful democratization.\n§Sodaro offers hypotheses about conditions for successful democratization. \n\nDemocracy is a choice. That could be because of economics, freedom, prestige, morality, blind acceptance of inherited principles. Critical mass of people must perceive democracy to be somehow “in their interest.”
729094
The technical term for it is a democratic republic so a lot of ppl like to argue it is not a democracy; but, actually it is.\n\nThere are many different forms of democracies with the basic concept applying when the will of the ppl is heard.\n\nIn a republic like ours, we do have this. We elect officials to speak the will of the ppl... to represent the ppl; therefore, we are a democracy. \n\nThe difference between our democracy and say a direct democracy is that we elect regional representatives to do the work, study and research for us in order to make informed choices.
32675
First of we are a federal Republic.  A democracy doesn't exist.  A republic is a representative form of government where the populace votes for people to represent their views in government.  \n\nDemocracy is where everyone has a say in every decision.  This would never and has never worked, even in ancient Greece because women, children, slaves and convicts never were allowed to vote.\n\nEven with the day to day decisions the ancient Greecians had a ruling council.
584715
Somewhere around 1000 B.C.  I'm not all that up on very early classical Greek or Roman history but that's where the principles for our own government originate.  Rome was a unicameral representative republic before it became an empire.  Greece was closer to a collection of republican city-states.\n\nTrue democracy at the time, as discussed by Plato, was very close to anarchy.  The problem with true democracy is that a minority is not protected from the majority and has no rights.  It is essentially mob mentality.\n\nThe establishment of a Constitutional Republic such as ours (America's) was a truely revolutionary system at the time, wherein the rights of those in the minority were guaranteed but the policy of the majority would still be imposed.  This is most evident in the advent of a bi-cameral legislature where on one side, even states with tiny populations had an even voice with other states (equal rights for minority/majority), and on the other side the population determined the fate of the nation (majority rules).  To this day, a better system of "democratic rule" that realistically works has not been invented.\n\nSteps in recent years have been taken to nullify this system and place the power into the hands of a select group of individuals.  This is exactly the shift that converted the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.
603111
many people argue that there really is no such thing as a true democracy.\nEven in the greatest democracies we still elect leaders who may or may not really represent the voice of the people.\nPerhaps a true democracy would operate something like American Idol, where we pick up a phone and text our votes on every issue that comes up.\nThere's a thought!
511781
A. Democracy is a myth.  No country has ever been a true democracy.  A true democracy everyone from age eight to death has a say on every issue.  (The US is a Federal Republic with divided and diffused powers divided between the various jurisdictions giving the federal a very specific roll and the rest to the states)\n\nB Oligarchy is the rule of a small group over a country-WHICH IS THE CORRECT ANSWER\n\nC. Theocracy is rule by a god\n\nD. Dictatorship is complete rule of one ruler.\n\n\nAgain the correct answer is B