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democracy

Definition of Democracy

(noun) A political system in which people vote directly on policy issues or through elected officials that represent them.

Types of Democracy

Democracy Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: de·moc·ra·cy

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /di-mAHk-ruh-see/
  • British English – /di-mOk-ruh-see/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /dᵻˈmɑkrəsi/
  • British English – /dᵻˈmɒkrəsi/

Usage Notes

  • Plural: democracies
  • From Greek demos (the people) and kratos (power).
  • The spirit of democracy is called democratism.
  • A democracy is the opposite of an autocracy.
  • A type of government and political system.
  • Also called majority rule.
  • When democracy is introduced to a culture, the existing political system is (verbdemocratized through (noundemocratization to become more (adjectivedemocratic.

Related Quotation

  • “In fact, democracy and capitalism often contradict each other. Capitalism, after all, frees individuals to pursue their own private interests in the marketplace; it promotes unconstrained liberty. Democracy, on the other hand, constrains individual liberty in the name of the common good” (Kimmel and Aronson 2012:426).

Additional Information

Related Terms


Reference

Kimmel, Michael S., and Amy Aronson. 2012. Sociology Now. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

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Cite the Definition of Democracy

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “democracy.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 19, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/democracy/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

democracy. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/democracy/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “democracy.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/democracy/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“democracy.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/democracy/>.