Democracy: Definition and Explanation

Democracy (People's say)

Democracy is one of the forms or systems of government that any political or social organization can use for its governance.

In democracy all the people of a political or social organization, through various methods like consensus, referendum or elected representatives, exercise equal control and govern over the matters which affect their interests.

Democracy represents control of an organization by its members who have a free and equal right to participate in decision-making processes.

It is form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or through their freely elected representatives or agents, elected by the majority of people.

Peoples' representatives or agents are elected by the people through free electoral system involving periodically held free elections where every citizen should have the right to vote.

Thus it is government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Democracy presents a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges, political or social equality- condition of classlessness and equality, absence of hereditary and class distinctions, decision making by consensus by majority people and democratic spirit.

Democracy is not instituted  in the same manner in all the democratic countries. In democracy too, there are many forms of government as given below:

1. Consociationalism
2. Deliberative democracy
3. Democratic socialism
4. Totalitarian democracy
    4.1 Dictatorship of the proletariat
5. Direct democracy
6. Egalitarianism
7. Futarchy
8. Open source governance
9. Participatory democracy
10. Representative democracy
      10.1 Parliamentary system
             10.1.1 Consensus government
             10.1.2 Westminster system
      10.2 Polyarchy
      10.3 Presidential system
      10.4 Semi-presidential system 

Forms of Government Other than  Democracy

1. Autocracy (Rule by one)
    1.1 Dictatorship Military dictatorship
          1.1.1 Stratocracy
          1.1.2 Despotis
    1.2 Kleptocracy
    1.3 Kritarchy
    1.4 Monarchy 
         1.4.1 Absolute monarchy
         1.4.2 Constitutional monarchy
         1.4.3 Duchy 
                 1.4.3.1Grand Duchy
         1.4.4 Diarchy
         1.4.5 Enlightened absolutism
         1.4.6 Elective monarchy
         1.4.7 Hereditary monarchy
         1.4.8 Non-Sovereign Monarchy
         1.4.9 Popular monarchy
         1.4.10 Principality
         1.4.11 New Monarchs
         1.4.12 Self-proclaimed monarchy
         1.4.13 Regent
   1.5 Plutocracy 
         1.5.1 Timocracy
   1.6 Police state
   1.7 Theocracy
   1.8 Tyranny

2. Oligarchy (Rule by few) 
    2.1 Saeculum obscurum
    2.2Aristocracy

3. Anarchy (Absence of organized government) 
    3.1 Ochlocracy
    3.2 Tribalism

4. Anarchism (Government of consent, not coercion) 
   4.1 Anarchist communism
   4.2 Libertarian socialism
   4.3 Libertarian municipalism
   4.4 Anarcho-capitalism
   4.5 Isocracy

5. Socialism 
    5.1 Socialist state
    5.2 Communist state
    5.3 Collective leadership
    5.4 State socialism

6. Fascism (Totalitarian single-party state) 
    6.1 National Socialism

7. Republic (The rule of law) 
    7.1 Constitutional republic
    7.2 Parliamentary republic
    7.3 Federal Republic

We will throw light on some of the above-mentioned forms of government in later posts.

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