Democracy (grecian Δημοκρατία, from δῆμος [dēmos], „Masses“, and κρατία [kratía], „Rule“, literal: Rules of the Masses) is an egalitarian form of government in which all the citizens of a nation together determine public policy, the laws and the actions of their state, requiring that all citizens (meeting certain qualifications) have an equal opportunity to express their opinion. In practice, "democracy" is the extent to which a given system approximates this ideal, and a given political system is referred to as "a democracy" if it allows a certain approximation to ideal democracy. Although no country has ever granted all its citizens (i.e. including minors) the vote, most countries today hold regular elections based on egalitarian principles, at least in theory.

The most common system that is deemed "democratic" in the modern world is parliamentary democracy in which the voting public takes part in elections and chooses politicians to represent them in a Legislative Assembly. The members of the assembly then make decisions with a majority vote. A purer form is direct democracy in which the voting public makes direct decisions or participates directly in the political process. Elements of direct democracy exist on a local level and on exceptions on national level in many countries, though these systems coexist with representative assemblies.

The Assyrian Democratic Movement (Syriac: ܙܘܥܐ ܕܝܡܘܩܪܛܝܐ ܐܬܘܪܝܐ; Zawʻá Demoqraṭáyá ʼÁṯuráyá) popularly known as Zowaa ("The Movement" in Syriac) is an ethnic Assyrian political party in Iraq, and is currently the only Assyrian-based political party to be voting in the Iraqi parliament.

The party was established on April 12, 1979 to satisfy the political objectives of the Assyrian people in Iraq, in response to the oppressive brutality of the Al-Baath regime and its attempts to forcibly expropriate ethnic Assyrians from their native lands. The movement took up armed struggle against the Iraqi regime in 1982 under the leadership of Yonadam Kanna, and joined the IKF in early 1990s. Yonadam Kanna in particular was a target of the Saddam Hussein Ba'ath regime for many years.

Due to successful lobbying from influential Assyrian-Americans and from Congressman Henry Hyde, American President George W. Bush designated the ADM an officially recognized Iraqi opposition movement. In a December 9, 2002 memorandum, President Bush invoked both articles four and five of the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 as a means of allowing the United States government to provide financial resources to the ADM and other Iraqi opposition groups. Kanna himself participated in a September 2002 meeting of Iraqi opposition leaders in New York and addressed the London conference of Iraqi opposition leaders in December 2002. In February 2003, Kanna addressed both Iraqi opposition leaders and U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad at a conference in northern Iraq. Just hours prior to the American-led war against Iraq in March 2003, Kanna stressed the importance of the coming war for the history of the Assyrian people. He noted that some Assyrians were leaving the cities for the villages and urged diaspora Assyrians to provide humanitarian aid to their brethren.

Shirin Ebadi (Persian: شيرين عبادى‎ Širin Ebādi; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women's, children's, and refugee rights. She was the first ever Iranian, and the first Muslim woman to receive the prize.

In 2009, Ebadi's award was allegedly confiscated by Iranian authorities, though this was later denied by the Iranian government. If true, she would be the first person in the history of the Nobel Prize whose award has been forcibly seized by state authorities.

Ebadi lives in Tehran, but she has been in exile in the UK since June 2009 due to the increase in persecution of Iranian citizens who are critical of the current regime. In 2004, she was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the "100 most powerful women in the world". She is also included in a published list of the "100 most influential women of all time."

Bantubonke Harrington Holomisa (born 25 July 1955) is a South African Member of Parliament and President of the United Democratic Movement.

Holomisa was born in Mqanduli, Eastern Cape. He joined the Transkei Defence Force in 1976 and had become a Brigadier by 1985. He overthrew Prime Minister Stella Sigcau in 1987 and was the Transkei's head of government from 1987 to 1994.

In 1994 Holomisa was elected to the African National Congress National Executive Committee, and was the Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism of South Africa. After testifying at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission he was expelled from the ANC on 30 September 1996.

He co-founded the UDM in 1997 with Roelf Meyer, and was elected to parliament in 1999.