Democracy

Democracy
We often hear the United States referred to as a democracy. Indeed, many refer to the U.S. as a representative democracy. A democracy in a more traditional sense is a political system that allows for each individual to participate. There are two rather popular types of democracy:
Direct Democracy : Many scholars point to Athens as an example of direct democracy . Technically, every citizen has an equal say in the workings of government. (The qualifications for being considered a citizen are completely different.) Citizens could show up at a meeting, and then directly participate in the governing process, and the process of making laws.
Representative Democracy : In a representative democracy set-up, citizens elect representatives who actually make the law. The United States operates similarly to this principle. Citizens elect legislators who, in turn, make laws. In the U.S., even the president isn’t elected directly; representatives called electors make the decision (although designated electors usually vote according to the wishes of the citizens in their states).
Other types of democracy include versions known as deliberative democracy , in which citizens approach decision making by considering different viewpoints and options, as well as
democratic socialism, in which citizens help make decisions or vote for policies that are socialistic in nature. There are other types of democracy as well. The defining characteristic is some level of citizen participation in the political system.