Democracy
Democracy is, literally, rule by the people (from the Greek demos, "people," and kratos, "rule"). The methods by which this rule is exercised, and indeed the composition of "the people" are central to various definitions of democracy, but useful contrasts can be made with oligarchies and autocracies, where political authority is highly concentrated and not subject to meaningful control by the people.
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Types and examples of democracies
Pure democracy
Direct democracy, also known as pure democracy, is a political system where the people vote on government decisions, such as questions of whether to approve or reject various laws.
Representative democracy
Representative democracy is where the people do not make decisions directly, but select representatives to a governing body or assembly. Representatives may be chosen by the electorate as a whole (as in many proportional systems) or represent a particular subset (usually a geographic district or constituency), with some systems using a combination of the two.
Single-party democracy
Single-party democracy is where the state explicitly gives the political power to the members, or to some of the members, of the ruling Party, following the principles of democratic centralism and vanguard party.
