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democracy,literally, rule by the people. The term is derived from the Greek dmokrati, which was coined from dmos (people) and kratos (rule) in the middle of the 5th century bc to denote the political systems then existing in some Greek city-states, notably Athens.

The etymological origins of the term democracy hint at a number of urgent problems that go far beyond semantic issues. If a government of or by the peoplea popular governmentis to be established, at least five fundamental questions must be confronted at the outset, and two more are almost certain to be posed if the democracy continues to exist for long.

(1) What is the appropriate unit or association within which a democratic government should be established? A town or city? A country? A business corporation? A university? An international organization? All of these?

(2) Given an appropriate associationa city, for examplewho among its members should enjoy full citizenship? Which persons, in other words, should constitute the dmos? Is every member of the association entitled to participate in governing it? Assuming that children should not be allowed to participate (as most adults would agree), should the dmos include all adults? If it includes only a subset of the adult population, how small can the subset be before the association ceases to be a democracy and becomes something else, such as an aristocracy (government by the best, aristos) or an oligarchy (government by the few, oligos)?

(3) Assuming a proper association and a proper dmos, how are citizens to govern? What political organizations or institutions will they need? Will these institutions differ between different kinds of associationsfor example, a small town and a large country?

(4) When citizens are divided on an issue, as they often will be, whose views should prevail, and in what circumstances? Should a majority always prevail, or should minorities sometimes be empowered to block or overcome majority rule?

(5) If a majority is ordinarily to prevail, what is to constitute a proper majority? A majority of all citizens? A majority of voters? Should a proper majority comprise not individual citizens but certain groups or associations of citizens, such as hereditary groups or territorial associations?

(6) The preceding questions presuppose an adequate answer to a sixth and even more important question: Why should the people rule? Is democracy really better than aristocracy or monarchy? Perhaps, as Plato argues in the Republic, the best government would be led by a minority of the most highly qualified personsan aristocracy of philosopher-kings. What reasons could be given to show that Platos view is wrong?

(7) No association could maintain a democratic government for very long if a majority of the dmosor a majority of the governmentbelieved that some other form of government were better. Thus, a minimum condition for the continued existence of a democracy is that a substantial proportion of both the dmos and the leadership believes that popular government is better than any feasible alternative. What conditions, in addition to this one, favour the continued existence of democracy? What conditions are harmful to it? Why have some democracies managed to endure, even through periods of severe crisis, while so many others have collapsed?

Since the time of the ancient Greeks, both the theory and the practice of democracy have undergone profound changes, many of which have concerned the prevailing answers to questions (1) through (3) above. Thus, for thousands of years the kind of association in which democracy was practiced, the tribe or the city-state, was small enough to be suitable for some form of democracy by assembly, or direct democracy. Much later, beginning in the 18th century, as the typical association became the nation-state or country, direct democracy gave way to representative democracya transformation so sweeping that, from the perspective of a citizen of ancient Athens, the governments of gigantic associations such as France or the United States might not have appeared democratic at all. This change in turn entailed a new answer to question (3): Representative democracy would require a set of political institutions radically different from those of all earlier democracies.

Excerpt from:
democracy -- Encyclopedia Britannica