"A Jewish and Democratic State" is the definition of the nature and character of the State of Israel, as the Jewish nature was first defined within the Declaration of Independence of 1948, and the "Democratic" character was first officially added to the "Jewish" nature in the amendment to the Basic Law: the Knesset that was passed in 1985 (amendment 9, clause 7A).

The characteristics of the state Israel as well as its Declaration of Independence identify Israel as "A Jewish Nation state", hence, a state that is influenced by its affinity towards the Jewish heritage and Tradition. These characteristics can be found in Israel's Emblems (See, Emblem of Israel, wherein the Menorah of the Temple is shown, as well as the Flag of Israel wherein the Star of David appears), as well as its official institutions (seeing that there is a Religious Services Ministry, as well as the status of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel), and in its legislations (see, Law of Return, Israeli nationality law, and the Status of the World Zionist Organization - Jewish Agency for Israel law).

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.