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Definition:
Generally speaking, a democracy is any political system in which "the
people" (demos) has the ultimate political power. More specifics are
difficult to state because the term has been used in so many different ways in history.
For example, just what constitutes "the people?" It could be all of the people, or it could simply be a particular sub-section of citizens, for example land holders.
There are two general types of democracy: representative and direct. In a direct democracy, public policies and laws are decided upon by a direct decision of all eligible voters. Direct democracies are usually difficult to use in large, complex societies so the most common form today is representative democracy. In that system, voters elect representatives, and those representatives vote on the passage of laws and decisions affecting public policy.
Also Known As: none
Alternate Spellings: none
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Related Resources:
What are Political and Legal Philosophy
The Philosophy of Politics and the Philosophy of Law are often studied separately, but they are presented here jointly because they both come back to the same thing: the study of force. Politics is the study of political force in the general community, while jurisprudence is the study of how laws can and should be used to achieve political and social goals.What is Philosophy?
What is philosophy? Is there any point in studying philosophy, or is it a useless subject? What are the different branches of philosophy - what's the difference between aestheitcs and ethics? What's the difference between metaphysics and epistemology?
