democracy

noun

de·​moc·​ra·​cy di-ˈmä-krə-sē 

plural democracies

1

a

: government by the people

especially : rule of the majority

b

: 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

2

: a political unit that has a democratic government

3

capitalized : the principles and policies of the Democratic party in the U.S.

from emancipation Republicanism to New Deal Democracy

—C. M. Roberts

4

: the common people especially when constituting the source of political authority

5

: the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the United States a democracy or a republic?

The United States is both a democracy and a republic. Democracies and republics are both forms of government in which supreme power resides in the citizens. The word republic refers specifically to a government in which those citizens elect representatives who govern according to the law. The word democracy can refer to this same kind of representational government, or it can refer instead to what is also called a direct democracy, in which the citizens themselves participate in the act of governing directly.

What is the basic meaning of democracy?

The word democracy most often refers to a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting.

What is a democratic system of government?

A democratic system of government is a form of government in which supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodic free elections.

Synonyms

• republic
• self-government
• self-rule

Example Sentences

Democracy, I would repeat, is the noblest form of government we have yet evolved … —Norman Mailer, New York Review of Books, 27 Mar. 2002

… this and the economic failures of faithful democracies in places such as India or the Anglophone Caribbean demonstrated conclusively that there was no inherent link between freedom and capitalism … —Orlando Patterson, New Republic, 8 Nov. 1999

Even in democracies today, crucial knowledge is available to only a few individuals … —Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel, 1997

The nation has chosen democracy over monarchy.

In a democracy, every citizen should have the right to vote.

The company is not a democracy; decisions are made by a board of directors, not the workers.

There is democracy within the company.

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Recent Examples on the Web

Election legacy in Nigeria Since the return of democracy in 1999, underhand tactics, including vote rigging and a lack of transparency, usually plague elections in Nigeria. —Tolu Olasoji, Quartz, 24 Feb. 2023

This is a war against freedom and human dignity, against democracy and the free world, against the world order and security. —Kerry A. Dolan, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2023

Continually reinventing themselves, Peronists have governed Argentina for 28 of the 40 years of democracy since 1983, while controlling a majority of the provinces and the Senate for most of that time. —Patrick Gillespie, Bloomberg.com, 11 Feb. 2023

When apartheid ended, the African National Congress promised reliable electricity and economic growth as dividends of democracy. —Monica Mark, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 Feb. 2023

Now some Yalies want to bring a more modest revolution to campus by re-introducing an element of democracy for the Yale Board of Trustees, known as the Yale Corporation. —The Editorial Board, WSJ, 9 Feb. 2023

This talk draws on diverse evidence, including new surveys conducted around elections with varying levels of democracy in Georgia, Tunisia and the United States. —David L. Coddoncontributor, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Feb. 2023

Despite those difficulties, Honig is emphatic that Trump must be prosecuted for his crimes against democracy, but not by a state court prosecutor for a single episode. —Scott Turow, Washington Post, 1 Feb. 2023

For those who’ve never visited any of the historical sites in Virginia, the moment serves as an informative history lesson and the start of a narrative line drawn from the first slaves in North America to our current understanding of democracy. —Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 26 Jan. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French democracie, democratie, borrowed from Late Latin dēmocratia, borrowed from Greek dēmokratía, from dēmo- demo- + -kratia -cracy

First Known Use

1539, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing democracy

• pure democracy
• social democracy

• pure democracy
• social democracy

Kids Definition

democracy

noun

de·​moc·​ra·​cy di-ˈmäk-rə-sē 

plural democracies

1

a

: government by the people

especially : rule of the majority

b

: government in which the supreme power is held by the people and used by them directly or indirectly through representation

2

: a political unit (as a nation) that has a democratic government

3

: belief in or practice of the idea that all people are socially equal

Etymology

from early French democratie "democracy," from Latin democratia (same meaning), from Greek demokratia "democracy," from dēmos "people, the masses" and -kratia "rule, government," from kratos "strength, power, authority" — related to epidemic

Legal Definition

democracy

noun

de·​moc·​ra·​cy di-ˈmä-krə-sē 

plural democracies

1

a

: government by the people

especially : rule of the majority

b

: 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

2

: a political unit that has a democratic government

democratic

ˌde-mə-ˈkra-tik 

adjective

democratically adverb