Democracy

Democracy
A
A democracy
democracy is
is a
a political
political system
system in
in which the government
which the government is
is elected
elected by
by the
the

people.
people. Everyone
Everyone who
who isis eligible to vote
eligible to vote can
can elect
elect a
a representative
representative oror a
a

political
political party
party that they want
that they to run
want to run the
the country.
country. There
There are
are different
different

political
political parties
parties in a democracy
in a that have
democracy that have different
different ideas
ideas about
about how
how the
the

country
country should
should be
be governed. Moreover, people
governed. moreover, people are
are also allowed to
also allowed to run
run for
for

office
office and
and get
get elected.
elected. In short, aa democracy
In short, democracy is the government
is the government of the
of the

people,
people, by the people,
by the and for
people, and for the
the people.
people. It
It is the most
is the most common
common form
form of
of

government
government in the Western
in the Western world.
world.

On
On certain
certain occasions, the government
occasions, the government asks
asks the
the people whether aa new
people whether new law
law should
should be
be made,
made, or
or an
an existing
existing law
law has to be
has to be

changed.
changed. This
This is
is called
called a
a referendum.
referendum.

There
There are
are two
two types
types of
of democracies:
democracies: direct
direct and
and representative.
representative. In
In a direct democracy,
a direct the people
democracy, the people have
have direct
direct influence
influence

on the decisions
on the that the
decisions that the government
government makes.
makes. There
There are
are not
not many
many direct
direct democracies,
democracies, because
because it is
is difficult
difficult to
it to organize
organize

referenda
referenda for
for each
each time
time a
a law
law is
is made
made or
or changed.
changed. Switzerland
Switzerland is
is an
an example
example of
of a
a direct
direct democracy.
democracy. In a representative
In a representative

democracy
democracy (or
(or indirect
indirect democracy),
democracy), people
people elect
elect representatives to make
representatives to make laws for them.
laws for them. These
These representatives
representatives include
include

mayors,
mayors, members
members of
of parliament,
parliament, and
and other
other government
government officials.
officials. The
The representatives
representatives make
make laws
laws for
for the
the citizens.
citizens. A
A
representative
representative democracy
democracy is the most
is the most common
common form
form of
of democracy.
democracy.

The first democratic

The first democratic government
government was
was first
first developed
developed in
in the
the city
city of
of Athens,
Athens,

in
in Ancient
Ancient Greece,
Greece, more than 2,000
more than 2,000 years
years ago.
ago. A
A council
council of
of several
several hundred
hundred

people
people suggested
suggested new
new laws,
laws, and
and all
all citizens
citizens were
were allowed to vote
allowed to vote for these
for these

q, laws.
laws. People
People could
could also
also vote
vote for
for the
the leader
leader they
they wanted.
wanted. Most
most democracies
democracies

in
in ancient
ancient history
history did
did not
not last
last very
very long.
long. Rulers
Rulers or
or kings
kings would
would often take
often take

control
control of these countries.
of these countries.

During the Middle

During the Middle Ages
Ages (500
(SOO AD – 1500
AD — 1500 AD),
AD), people
people in various European
in various European

countries
countries began
began to
to demand
demand more
more democratic
democratic governments,
governments, because they
because they

A
A speech
speech of
of Pericles
Pericles in
in Athens
Athens were fed up
were fed up with their
with their

rulers
rulers and
and wanted
wanted more
more
freedom.
freedom. England
England elected
elected its first parliament
its first parliament in
in 1265,
1265, which
which reduced
reduced the
the

power
power of the monarch.
of the monarch. However,
However, only
only a
a small
small minority
minority was
was allowed to
allowed to

vote.
vote. In the United
In the United States,
States, the
the people fought the
people fought the Revolutionary
Revolutionary War
War to
to

gain
gain independence from Britain
independence from Britain and
and established
established a
a democratic
democratic

constitution
constitution 1788.
1788.

Preamble
Preamble to
to the
the U.S.
U.S. Constitution
Constitution