DEMOCRACY A CONCEPTUAL

UNDERSTANDING
• While some of the Greek city states had regimes
that had Democratic aspects, Modern Democracy
only dates from the late 18th century.
• Democratization is one of the most important
concepts and trends in Modern Political Science.
• To be considered Democratic, a country must
choose its leaders through fair and competitive
elections, ensure basic civil liberties, and respect
the rule of law.
• The opinion and choice of the people is paramount
in a Democracy.
• Thus it was rightly stated by Abraham Lincoln that
‘No man is good enough to govern another man
without his consent.’
• Jonathan swift also said ‘All government without
the consent of the governed is the very definition of
slavery.’
• According to Abraham Lincoln, ‘Democracy is seen
as a form of government by the people, for the
people and of the people.’
• There are many other countries like Libya, Cuba,
North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China etc. that do not
have Democracy in their country. Many of the Non-
Democratic countries witness Pro-Democracy rallies
and movements.
• Hence, it becomes important for us to understand
the meaning of the term “Democracy”.
• To understand the meaning of Democracy we need
to look into the definition of Democracy as given
by Abraham Lincoln .
• He defined it as the ‘Government of the people, by
the people and for the people’.
• In a Democracy the supreme power is
retained and exercised by the people.
• The word Democracy comes from a Greek word
‘Demokratia’.
• In Greek ‘demos’ means people and ‘kratia’
means rule.
• In simple terms, Democracy is rule by the people.
• It is a government by the people in which the
supreme power is vested in the people and
exercised directly by them or by their elected
representatives chosen after a free and fair
election.
• Democracy is thus, a form of government where
people have an equal say in the decisions that affect
their lives.
• DEFINITIONS
• Democracy is the “Rule by the people” where ‘the people’
includes all adult citizens and ‘Rule’ means that public
policies are determined either directly by vote of the
electorate or indirectly by officials freely elected at reasonably
frequent intervals and by a process in which the value of each
vote is the same. –Pennock

• “Democracy is a state where the people are sovereign and

guided by laws of its own making, and where the people do
by themselves everything that is possible to do, and through
delegates, everything that is not.” -Robespierre
• “Democracy is governance by leaders whose authority
is based on a limited mandate from universal electorate
that selects among genuine alternatives and has some
rights to political participation and opposition.” -Danziger
• The definition of Democracy helps us to separate it
from other forms of government.
• For example, in Myanmar there is military rule
(Dictatorship) and these army rulers are not elected
by the people.
• Similarly, the rulers of Saudi Arabia rule over the
people because they happen to be born in a royal
family (Monarchy).
• On the contrary, Democracy is characterized by
formal equality of rights and privileges.
Features of Democracy
 EMERGENCE AND EXPANSION OF
DEMOCRACY
• Democracy in the Greek city states
• The term Democracy first appeared in the Greek
political and philosophical thought.
• The Greek city state of Athens established the first
Democracy in 508 BC.
• The ancient Greeks referred to themselves as
citizens of their hometown - their city-state.
• Each city-state (polis) had its own goals, laws and
customs.
• Ancient Greeks were very loyal to their city-state.
• In Athens, every year 500 names were drawn from
all the citizens of Athens who were to serve as law
makers for a year.
• All the citizens of Athens were required to vote
on any new law that this body of 500 citizens
created. One man, one vote, majority ruled.
• Women, children, and slaves were not considered
citizens, and thus could not vote.
 The story of Modern Democracy
• The stories of Modern democracy began at least
three centuries ago.
• The emergence of Modern Democracy is linked
with Europe.
• The two revolutions that contributed to the
development of Democracy are the Glorious
revolution of the 17th century in England and the
French Revolution of the 18th century in France.
• The Glorious revolution laid the foundation of the
first democratic principles of the Rule of Law.
• Earlier it was believed that the king was the
‘representative of the God’ and that the King’s
wishes were the law.
• The people strongly protested the idea and
dethroned King James II of England.
• They passed the Bill Of Rights which firmly stated
that the country should be governed by the laws
passed by the people and not by the whims of the
king.
• The French Revolution took place between 1789
and 1851.
• In the revolution King Louis XVI was executed .
• It was decided that the country should be ruled by
the laws passed by the people.
• It laid down the ‘Declaration of the Rights of
Man’ which highlighted that liberty, Equality etc.
were important in a Democracy.
• In 1792, France became a Republic.