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Defining Democracy

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Submitted By phnakes
Words 1577
Pages 7
Baback Nabidavoodi
Dr. Harder
English 1B
30 January 2014
Defining Democracy
Democracy began in ancient Mesopotamia and continued on through classical Greece and Rome then towards the rise of Islamic civilization to the modern day in the United States. It has gone through its trials and tribulations to become what it is today and continues to change and grow. Democracy is defined in the Merriam Webster dictionary as "a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections " Also has been defined as a government "Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth." by our 16th president Abraham Lincoln. Elements that a government must have to be considered a democracy are that it must have a political system for electing and re-electing new officials for the government through free and fair elections. Furthermore, it needs an active participation of the citizens in politics and everyday life, all citizens must have protection of their human rights, and there has to be a rule of law, which is when the laws apply equally to all citizens. A government must comprise of all these elements in order to be called a legitimate democracy.
Elections are key for a democracy. Elections provide the citizens of that country an opportunity to choose someone they accept in the given office and it also gives them a right to freedom of choice. Democracy is the freedom of expression and the freedom to choose leaders that you wish. In order for a democracy to work all who are part of that government must accept the result of a free and fair election. The parties who were once in power of the office and end up losing their position they must accept defeat. If this doesn’t take place and citizens don’t accept

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