World Economic Forum : The end of democracy? Democracy is a form of government where citizens participate in government by choosing the government through free and fair elections and the politicians represent their constituents. Democracies ensure active participation of the citizens in politics and civic life.[1] In a democratic society, eligible citizens are able to vote for the passing or rejecting of laws, run for office during elections, join political parties, sit on boards or committees, criticize or protest against the government, and receive a fair trial if accused of breaking the country's laws. Politicians represent their constituents in the proposal, development and establishment of the laws by which their society is run.[citation needed] The term originates from the Greek δημοκρατία (dēmokratía) "rule of the people",[2] which was found from δῆμος (dêmos) "people" and κράτος (krátos) "power" or "rule" in the 5th century BC to denote the political systems then existing in Greek city-states, notably Athens; the term is an antonym to ἀριστοκρατία (aristokratía) "rule of an elite". While theoretically these definitions are in opposition, in practice the distinction has been blurred historically.[3] The political system of Classical Athens, for example, granted democratic citizenship to an elite class of free men and excluded slaves and women from political participation. In virtually all democratic governments throughout ancient and modern history, democratic citizenship consisted of an elite class until full enfranchisement was won for all adult citizens in most modern democracies through the suffrage movements of the 19th and 20th centuries. The English word dates to the 16th century, from the older Middle French and Middle Latin equivalents. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy Ana Ivanovic : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2qTjoRDMd4 Tony Romo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5PE0KFSPyY Maria Sharapova : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAa6rvSStjA Victoria Azarenka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3VAZdh_38U Ronda Jean Rousey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_lqQY0IrjU Thai Pattaya: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK1ddRKS9fY Singapore Geylang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-W2oXAKxy0 democracy republic democracy vs republic democracy government direct democracy democracy quotes democracy define democracy definition for kids democracy game Planets Sport/Highlight/Everytime The following countries or regions are categorised by the Democracy Index 2012, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, as a Full democracy: Norway Sweden Iceland Denmark New Zealand Australia Switzerland Canada Finland Netherlands Luxembourg Austria Ireland Germany Malta United Kingdom Czech Republic Uruguay Mauritius South Korea United States of America Costa Rica Japan Belgium Spain The Index assigns 54 countries or regions to the lower category, Flawed democracy: Argentina, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Ghana, Greece, Guyana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Latvia, Lesotho, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Namibia, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Indonesia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Zambia.

• published: 18 Feb 2015
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