What is democracy?

Democracy

Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Democracy allows eligible citizens to participate equally—either directly or through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. It encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination.

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Famous quotes containing the word democracy:

    I swear to the Lord
    I still can’t see
    Why Democracy means
    Everybody but me.
    Langston Hughes (1902–1967)

    In a democracy—even if it is a so-called democracy like our white-élitist one—the greatest veneration one can show the rule of law is to keep a watch on it, and to reserve the right to judge unjust laws and the subversion of the function of the law by the power of the state. That vigilance is the most important proof of respect for the law.
    Nadine Gordimer (b. 1923)

    No democracy can long survive which does not accept as fundamental to its very existence the recognition of the rights of minorities.
    Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)