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Joe Buonomo

Pinki Chakrabarti

ENG 100-642

14 October 2016

Democracy

Democracy by definition is, A government in which the supreme power is vested in the

people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually

involving periodically held free elections(Webster). It is also defined as A government by the

people(Webster). In this paper, I will define what democracy is, how it is used, and where it is

used today. I will show and describe why people think that a country is a democracy, but really is

not.

The word democracy comes from the Greek, demos which means, the people and

kratia which means power or authority(What Is Democracy?). The history of democracy can

be traced back to the ancient Greeks around 507 BC (Karsten). It was first started in Athens by a

man named Cleisthenes, who is known as the father of Athenian democracy(Karsten).

Democracy was first used by the citizens of Athens by placing citizens into the judicial and

administrative offices. During this time, democracy had two requisites needed in order to work.

One, the town or community must be small enough that all the citizens can join for debates,

meetings, etc. Two, the economy must give freedom for its citizens to engage in politics,

meaning, there would have to be slaves. Both these requisites were met in ancient Greece and a

democracy was formed. Later in history, democracy was witnessed again when the Magna Carta

was signed in England, in 1215 AD. The Magna Carta was signed to put the King and the church
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in their rightful places; for they were gaining too much power. The Magna Carta helped place a

check on the kings amount of power by establishing various laws for the people to follow.

What is democracy? Democracy can be characterized into three important principles:

legal equality, political freedom, and rule of law. In a democracy, the people choose the leader

but are the leader at the same time. The people are the highest form of political authority.

Another term for democracy is majority rule which allows for more options for the citizens,

instead of one ruler dictating the rules and laws for all the people. In a democracy, the elected

representatives listen to the people and their requests. In order for a democracy to work, the

citizens must participate in public life and politics. The people must also vote. If they do not

vote, they cannot have a leader for their government. Political parties are vital organizations in a

democracy, and democracy is stronger when citizens become active members of political

parties (What is Democracy?). People of a democracy are free to choose whomever they wish to

vote for. This helps the idea that the people are the government because they are electing into

office who they want, not who they are forced to have. In a democracy, just like a republic,

people have rights. Rights are very essential for people who want the best for themselves. Some

of these rights include: freedom of speech, religion, writing what you believe and many others.

People have the right to leave the country, to form protests, and to form and join organizations.

All of theses must be done peacefully, or the people could lose their rights.

Some people believe that Americas government is a democracy. It is not. Americas

government is a federal republic. Although a democracy and a republic are very similar, they

have different characteristics that make them very different. A federal republic, according to the

dictionary is, a form of government made up of a federal state with a constitution and self-

governing subunits(Webster). Americas government is not one of the people, but rather one
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that is made up of states, and has a constitution. If you think that America is a democracy, go

back to our pledge of allegiance; I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of

America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one Nation, under God, indivisible, with

liberty and justice for all. It is clearly stated that America is a republic, not a democracy. Some

believe America is a democracy because of how America is just right for everyone. Over the

years America has conformed to the peoples wants and have given them just about all that they

could want. A few examples are, abortions and same sex marriage. In a democracy, people are

free to criticize their leaders and observe how they conduct their business, aspects of America

and further reasons why people misunderstand the government.

What countries are have a democracy as their government? There are quite a few

countries whose government is a democracy. The countries are: Argentina, Australia, Austria,

Bahamas, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,

France, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica,

Japan, Kiribati, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Netherlands, New Zealand,

Norway, Poland, Portugal, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South

Korea, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and Uruguay. (ODonnell)

In this essay, I have defined the aspects of democracy, where it originated, and how and

where it is used today. I hope with this essay you, the reader, will have learned something new

about democracy. I have shown how democracy has grown over the last hundreds of years and

what it is now. I have also described what it is and what democracys different aspects are.

Finally I have given a list of different countries where democracy is still used today. In this essay

I have described how a republic and democracy are different, yet closely related.
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Gascoigne, Bamber. "History of Democracy." HistoryWorld. N.p., 3 Apr. 2001. Web. 19

Oct. 2016.

Karsten, Frank. "Democracy." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 14

Oct. 2016.

O'Donnell, Kathleen P. "Made." In Democracies. Madeinstates, 2015. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

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Webster, Merriam. "Democracy Definition." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d.

Web. 14 Oct. 2016.

"What Is Democracy?" What Is Democracy? N.p., 24 Jan. 2004. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.