Democracy
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Detailed representation of the Athenian constitution, ca. 4th century BC. Note the use of selection by lot, cycling of representatives, large numbers of everyday citizens, and direct participation in the political process.
Democracy (Greek: δημοκρατία, dēmokratiā, from dēmos 'people' and kratos 'rule') is a form of government in which the people govern themselves, usually by electing bodies of representatives.[1] Western capitalist society is dominated by liberal democracies, which revolutionary socialists criticise as legitimising organs of a dictatorship of the capitalist class and obstacles against the establishment of meaningful democracy of the masses.
The Athenian Pnyx, site of the mass Assembly which was sovereign over essentially all matters of state.[citation needed]
Direct and representative democracy
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Applications of democracy
In the state
In political parties
In worker-led enterprises
Other applications
Critique of democracy
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References