Informations on democracy

- Definition of the Concept

Democracy derives from the Greek words demos - people, and kratos -, power, authority, legitimacy.

The term denotes, according to the definition of Abraham Lincoln, "government of the people, by the people and for the people"

Gaxie, Daniel. Democracy. In Encyclopaedia Universalis [on line]. (Web page consulted on 15/06/2012)

http://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/democratie/

Democracy is also defined as:

"...governing with the consent of the people"

"...a system of government, the supreme authority of which belongs to the people."

"...a government in which political control is in the hands of the entire citizenry, either directly or through their elected representatives."

"A democracy is a system where individuals may change leaders in a peaceful manner, and where government has the right to govern because citizens have conferred this right on them."

By "people" we mean all the citizens of a given territory who are supposed to be both the government and governed[1][1].

ACE. Definition of democracy. [On line]. (Page accessed on 15/06/2012)

http://aceproject.org/main/francais/ve/vec05b01.htm

Exercise of democracy by the people: direct/indirect democracy.

In ancient Greece, democracy was initially practised in a direct manner, i.e. all citizens (except women, children and slaves) met in a public place to take decisions themselves: this was participatory democracy, where citizens took part in decisions made - right from their drafting up to the implementation stage.

Today, in almost all political systems, one finds democracy in its indirect form, i.e. where people do not directly exercise power, but just elect representatives who govern on their behalf.

[1][1]ACE. Definition of democracy. [on line]. (Page accessed on 15/06/2012)

http://aceproject.org/main/francais/ve/vec05b01.htm

	Informations on democracy - Definition of the Concept Democracy derives from the Greek words demos - people, and kratos -, power, authority, legitimacy. The term denotes, according to the definition of Abraham Lincoln, "government of the people, by the people and for the people" Gaxie, Daniel. Democracy. In Encyclopaedia Universalis [on line]. (Web page consulted on 15/06/2012) http://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/democratie/ Democracy is also defined as: "...governing with the consent of the people" "...a system of government, the supreme authority of which belongs to the people." "...a government in which political control is in the hands of the entire citizenry, either directly or through their elected representatives." "A democracy is a system where individuals may change leaders in a peaceful manner, and where government has the right to govern because citizens have conferred this right on them." By "people" we mean all the citizens of a given territory who are supposed to be both the government and governed[1][1]. ACE. Definition of democracy. [On line]. (Page accessed on 15/06/2012) http://aceproject.org/main/francais/ve/vec05b01.htm Exercise of democracy by the people: direct/indirect democracy. In ancient Greece, democracy was initially practised in a direct manner, i.e. all citizens (except women, children and slaves) met in a public place to take decisions themselves: this was participatory democracy, where citizens took part in decisions made - right from their drafting up to the implementation stage. Today, in almost all political systems, one finds democracy in its indirect form, i.e. where people do not directly exercise power, but just elect representatives who govern on their behalf. [1][1]ACE. Definition of democracy. [on line]. (Page accessed on 15/06/2012) http://aceproject.org/main/francais/ve/vec05b01.htm
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