Definition of democracy

Definitions

democracy

noun (democrac, ies)

(uncountable) Rule by the people, especially as a form of government; either directly, as in Ancient Greece, or through elected representatives as in many modern societies (representative democracy).

- 1866, J. Arthur Partridge, On Democracy, Trí¼bner & Co., page 2:
- : And the essential value and power of Democracy consists in this,"that it combines, as far as possible, power and organization ; THE SPIRIT, MANHOOD, is at one with THE BODY, ORGANIZATION. .... Democracy is Government by the People.
- 1901, The American Historical Review, American Historical Association, page 260:
- : The period, that is, which marks the transition from absolutism or aristocracy to will mark also the transition from absolutist or autocratic methods of nomination to democratic methods.
- 1921, James Bryce Bryce, Modern Democracies, The Macmillan Company, page 1:
- : A century ago there was in the Old World only one tiny spot in which the working of could be studied. A few of the ancient rural cantons of Switzerland had recovered their freedom after the fall of Napoleon, and were governing themselves as they had done from the earlier Middle Ages.... Nowhere else in Europe did the people rule.
  1. (countable, government) A government under the direct or representative rule of the people of its jurisdiction.
- 2003, Fareed Zakaria, The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad, W. W. Norton & Company, page 13:
- : In 1900 not a single country had what we would today consider a : a government created by elections in which every adult citizen could vote.
  1. (rfv-sense) (uncountable) Belief in political freedom and equality; the spirit of democracy.
- 1915, George William Coleman, Democracy in the Making: Ford Hall and the Open Forum Movement: a Symposium, http://books.google.com/books?id=8V0oAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA259&dq=democracy p259
- : You cannot separate God and ... For if we believe in , we believe in God's purpose...
- 1918, Charles Horton Cooley, "A Primary Culture for Democracy", in Publications of the American Sociological Society 13, http://books.google.com/books?id=cvUZAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA8&dq=democracy p8
- : As states of the human spirit , righteousness, and faith have much in common and may be cultivated by the same means...
- 1919, Tomí¡Å¡ Garrigue Masaryk, The Spirit of Russia: Studies in History, Literature and Philosophy, Macmillan, http://books.google.com/books?id=aLAcAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA4-PA446&dq=democracy p446
- : It must further be admitted that he provided a successful interpretation of in its philosophic aspects when he conceived as a general outlook on the universe... In Bakunin's conception of as religious in character we trace the influence of French socialism.
- 1996, Petre Roman, The Spirit of Democracy and the Fabric of NATO - The New European Democracies and NATO Enlargement, http://www.fas.org/man/nato/natodocs/an246pc.htm p1
- : The spirit of means, above all, liberty of choice for human beings... , in both its individual and collective forms, is the main engine of the eternal human striving for justice and prosperity.
- 2000, http://www.spiritofdemocracy.com/English/Index.htm SpiritOfDemocracy?.com
- : "Don"t teach us the structures of democracy, we know all about the structures of democracy; teach us the spirit of ."

Translations:

Dutch: democratie^(nl)f
French: démocratie^(fr)f
German: Demokratie^(de)f
Italian: democrazia^(it)

Etymology: From (term, democratie) (French (term, démocratie)) < (term, democratia) < Ancient Greek (term, cs=polytonic, , tr=dÄmokrítia) < (term, sc=polytonic, , tr=dámos, , common people) < (PIE.)

(term, , da-mo-, division) < (PIE.) base
(term, , da-, to divide, cut up) + Ancient Greek (term, sc=polytonic, , tr=krítos, , rule, strength) < (PIE.)
(term, , kratus, strength).

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