Meaning of democracy | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Rule by the people, especially as a form of government; either directly or through elected representatives (representative democracy).
   uncountable
2. The Democratic Party.
   US, obsolete
3. democracy (rule by the people)
4. a form of government in which sovereign power resides in the people and is exercised by them or by officers they elect to represent them. Cf. republicanism. — democrat, n. — democratic, adj.
5. A government under the direct or representative rule of the people of its jurisdiction.
   countable
6. democracy (government under the rule of its people)
7. A form of government in which power is held by the people or exercised on their behalf by elected representatives.
8. A state with a democratic system of government.
   countable
9. (a country having) a form of government in which the people freely elect representatives to govern them. Which is the world's largest democracy?; He believes in democracy. demokrasie, volksregering ديموقْراطِيَّه، حُكْم الشَّعْب демокрация democracia demokracie die Demokratie demokrati δημοκρατίαdemocracia demokraatia دموکراسی؛ مردم سالاری demokratia démocratieדמוקרטיה लोकतंत्र demokracija demokrácia demokrasi lÿðræði, lÿðræðisríki democrazia 民主主義 민주주의 demokratija, demokratinė šalis demokrāti...
10. Belief in political freedom and equality; the "spirit of democracy".
    uncountable
11. one who believes in democracy as a principle. She likes to pretend she's a democrat. demokraat نَصير الديموقْراطِيَّه/ حُكْم الشَّعب демократ democrata demokrat der/die Demokrat(in) demokrat δημοκράτηςdemócrata demokraat دموکرات؛ هوادار حکومت اکثریت demokraatti démocrateדמוקרט लोकतांत्रिक demokrat demokrata demokrat lÿðræðissinni; demókrati, jafnaðarmaður democratico 民主主義者 민주주의자 demokratas demokrāts demokrat democraatdemokrat demokrata ديمو كرا تيك، دخلكو دحكومت طرفدار، يمو كراسى ته منسوب dem...
12. (negative undemocratic).
    negative
13. (negative undemocratically) following democratic principles. The issue was decided democratically by taking a general vote. demokraties ديموقْراطِيّاً демократично democraticamente demokraticky demokratisch demokratiskt δημοκρατικάdemocráticamente demokraatlikult به روش دموکراتیک demokraattisesti démocratiquement בְּאוֹפֶן דֶמוֹקרָטִי लोकतांत्रिक रूप से demokratično demokratikusan secara demokratis lÿðræðislega democraticamente 民主的に 민주적으로 demokratiškai demokrātiski secara demokrasi democratis...
    negative
14. Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.
15. A political or social unit that has such a government.
16. The common people, considered as the primary source of political power.
17. Majority rule.

Equivalents

Examples

“And the essential value and power of Democracy consists in this,—that it combines, as far as possible, power and organization ; THE SPIRIT, MANHOOD, is at one with THE BODY, ORGANIZATION. [....] Democracy is Government by the People.”

“The period, that is, which marks the transition from absolutism or aristocracy to democracy will mark also the transition from absolutist or autocratic methods of nomination to democratic methods.”

“A century ago there was in the Old World only one tiny spot in which the working of democracy could be studied. A few of the ancient rural cantons of Switzerland had recovered their freedom after the fall of Napoleon, and were governing themselves as they had done from the earlier Middle Ages[...]. Nowhere else in Europe did the people rule.”

“Everyone who wanted to speak did so. It was democracy in its purest form.”

“On this day in 1977, Taiwan witnessed a watershed moment in its march to democracy: the Chungli Incident. Violence broke out on the night of the largest-yet elections in the country’s history. Some 10,000 people took to the streets in protest following reports of election fraud on the part of the ruling Kuomintang.”

““If you have rule of the bureaucrat — if the bureaucracy is in charge, then what meaning does democracy actually have?” Musk said during his 30-minute appearance with Trump, where he rebuffed critics who said he’s the one undermining democratic institutions.”

“Of course, the Russians think it is something else because they say the Russians have a democracy and it is plain that their government is not what the Americans regard as a democracy.”

“In 1900 not a single country had what we would today consider a democracy: a government created by elections in which every adult citizen could vote.”

“After almost four decades of authoritarian rule, South Africa became a democracy in April 1994.”

“The United States was founded as a republic, not a democracy.”

“Israel is not a democracy, as these elections proved once again. Democracy is the rule of the people, not the rule of one people over another.”

“Biden led a virtual summit event in Washington focused on democracy delivering on global challenges, calling on democracies to continue to stand together amid global challenges.”

“As states of the human spirit democracy, righteousness, and faith have much in common and may be cultivated by the same means...”

“It must further be admitted that he provided a successful interpretation of democracy in its philosophic aspects when he conceived democracy as a general outlook on the universe... In Bakunin's conception of democracy as religious in character we trace the influence of French socialism.”

“The spirit of democracy means, above all, liberty of choice for human beings... democracy, in both its individual and collective forms, is the main engine of the eternal human striving for justice and prosperity.”

“I so adopt it because it furnishes a precise and an agreed starting point for a discussion between Republicans and that wing of the Democracy headed by Senator Douglas.”

CEFR level