What is democracy?

A democracy is any system of government in which the people either make or influence the decisions and government is accountable to the people. There are various forms of democracy, including: direct, representative, liberal, and pluralist. Direct democracy is a form of democracy used in Ancient Greece, where the people make political decisions directly. Representative democracy is used much more largely in the current day. In a representative democracy, the people vote for a representative to reflect their political views. A liberal democracy is a form of representative democracy which adheres to the principles of classical liberalism, including the rule of law, free and fair elections and freedom of the press. Finally, a pluralist democracy is concerned with the idea of choice for the people. In a pluralist democracy, there are multiple centres of power. There should be multiple parties with contrasting views, as well as a variety of pressure groups and political associations.