Democracy is a system of government in which power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or through freely elected representatives. The term is derived from the Greek ‘demokratia,’ which was coined in the 5th century BCE to denote the political systems of some Greek city-states, notably Athens.

Democracy is government in which power and civic responsibility are exercised by all citizens, directly or through their freely elected representatives. Democracy is a set of principles and practices that protect human freedom; it is the institutionalization of freedom.

Democracy (from Ancient Greek: , romanized :dēmokratía, dēmos 'people' and kratos 'rule') [1] is a form of government in which the people have the authority deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy ") or to choose governing officials to do so (" representative democracy ").

A democracy is a form of government that empowers the people to exercise political control, limits the power of the head of state, provides for the separation of powers between governmental entities, and ensures the protection of natural rights and civil liberties. In practice, democracy takes many different forms.