The democracy it is a system of government in which decisions are made by the representatives of the citizens, who elect them in the framework of free and periodic elections, to which various candidates are presented on behalf of different political parties. Democratic rulers respect the Constitution Of each country.
In this way it is possible that the opinion of the majority influences the decisions that govern the destinies of a country. Even with its shortcomings, it is the most widely accepted form of government today in most of the world, although certainly for much of human history it was not the most common.
It can serve you: Examples of Democracy at School
This is why democracy is taken as a very important value of life in society, which opposes the idea of dictatorship, that is, the government exercised by a few and often imposed by force. Democracy arises in the Ancient Greece and is consolidated in the century of Pericles.
The fundamental mechanism of democracy are the instances by which the popular will is interpreted, which differ according to the different types of democratic system, but the common factor is that the representativenessis sustained through the vote whereby citizens elect their representatives.
Likewise, countries with republican systems work through a division of powers, in all cases the elected representatives must respond to the popular will. Some countries adopt representative parliamentary systems.
Most countries are governed by liberal democracies or by social-democracies. Today's democracies coexist with some constitutional monarchies, such as Spain or the United Kingdom.
Among the main variants of democracy it is worth mentioning:
- Indirect or representative democracy (the most common today).
- Participatory or semi-direct democracy.
- Direct democracy or in its purest form, like that of Ancient Greece.
Some forms of democratic organization are listed below:
- The referendum, mechanisms of representative democracy that require the participation of citizens.
- The sports clubs and neighborhood associations (that adopt participatory democracies).
- The top-down unions (that adopt representative democracies).
- The popular assemblies (that work with direct democracies).
- The grassroots unions (which have direct democracies).
- The jury trials, the opportunity that citizens have in many countries to participate in decisions related to the administration of justice.
- The student centers (which have direct democracies).
- The consortia (which have participatory democracies).
- The social democracy, concerned with the satisfaction of the needs of the individuals belonging to it.
- The liberal democracy, permissive of market mechanisms without intervention.
- Athenian democracy, with its Assembly and its Council of Five Hundred.
- The plebiscites, which are consultations carried out by the public powers so that citizens can express themselves on a certain proposal through direct popular vote.
It can serve you: Examples of Democracy in everyday life
