democracy

Plural

democracies

1. 1.Rule by the people, especially as a form of government, such as

   • Everyone who wanted to speak did so. It was democracy in its purest form.
   • The period, that is, which marks the transition from absolutism or aristocracy to democracy will mark also the transition from absolutist or autocratic methods of nomination to democratic methods.

2. 2.A government under the direct or representative rule of the people of its jurisdiction.

   • Since the wisest and most moral would not necessarily be the choice of the majority of people, Plato's Republic is not a democracy.
   • In 1900 not a single country had what we would today consider a democracy: a government created by elections in which every adult citizen could vote.
   • Of course, the Russians think it is something else because they say the Russians have a democracy and it is plain that their government is not what the Americans regard as a democracy.

3. 3.A state with a democratic system of government.

   • The United States was founded as a republic, not a democracy.
   • After almost four decades of authoritarian rule, South Africa became a democracy in April 1994.
   • Israel is not a democracy, as these elections proved once again. Democracy is the rule of the people, not the rule of one people over another.

4. 4.Belief in political freedom and equality; the "spirit of democracy".

   • As states of the human spirit democracy, righteousness, and faith have much in common and may be cultivated by the same means..
   • The spirit of democracy means, above all, liberty of choice for human beings.. democracy, in both its individual and collective forms, is the main engine of the eternal human striving for justice and prosperity.

Overall

Common· #1819

By learning goal

Everyday conversation

Uncommon

General reading & writing

Common

Academic

Uncommon

Literature

Rare

Synonyms

• republic