Thread: Democracy

1. Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.
2. A political or social unit that has such a government.
3. The common people, considered as the primary source of political power.
4. Majority rule.
5. The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community.

democracy: Definition and Much More From Answers.com

Most Western nations have adopted a system of governance which incorporates the principle of indirect democracy, i.e. power through representation.
The rule of "one equal vote per adult" has not become a generally accepted premise until the mid-20th century.

The electoral system is a key in assessing how far democracy has been adopted.

There are one-party socialist states, where the vote is open, it can be monitored who one votes for. -'nuff said already. The former German Democratic Republic was such nation.

There are two main ways of electing: simple majority voting and proportional voting, as well as combinations of the two.

The British system is an example of direct vote. The advantage is that people vote for an identified candidate, the downside is that all minority votes are "lost", thus a candidate with an overall approval of merely 30% of votes may win after a 'fortunate' constellation in the voting districts. (sorry my English skills fail me on this subject - I don't quite know the correct terms)

Australian senate elections are an example for proportional vote. One votes for a party, which has a list of candidates. Canditates are allocated seats according to the overall result. This is very fair in terms of percentage, the disadvantage is one has little influence on which individual candidate one may support.

Germany is an example for a mixed system, one has a "split-vote", or 2 votes: one for a candiate by direct vote, one for a party through a list vote.

Further, some countries are constitutional monarchies, where a ruler is the head of the nation with veto power, and s/he commands the army. Thailand is an example.
There could also be a part of parliament where seats are inherited (the Upper House in the UK) or nominated (Army seats in Thailand).

Edit:In Republics, there is a central government as well as governments for the individual states, often the combined "power" of the states' governments can block the central gov (Germany).

As far as I know, the United States of America is the Republic in which the individual states have most autonomy, which is reflected in their unique electoral system.
I'll let someone else introduce this.