Democracy is a form of government, a way of life. The word democracy comes from the Greek words demos, meaning people, and kratos, which means rule or authority. It is the government of the people, by the people for the people. The citizens of a democratic country take part in government either directly or indirectly. Athenian democracy was a direct democracy while today we have a representative democracy. In a direct democracy, the people meet in one place to make the laws for their community. It is the democracy that was practiced in Athens, in antiquity. Most modern societies have a representative democracy where the citizens elect their leaders to represent them in making decisions about laws and other issues.

Throughout the history, the most important aspects of the democratic way of life have been the principles of individual equality and freedom, as we still

Democracy can function because it is based on laws. The characteristics of modern democracy are free elections, majority rule, minority rights, political parties, constitutional government, and equality. Values in democracy include justice, respect, tolerance, human dignity, hard work, and transparency. Even in Pericles times, such characteristics as majority rule, respect and equality were present too.

Democracy gives us the rights of freedom, to behave, as we like, believe what we want as long as we don’t harm the society as a whole. As a citizens in modern democracy we have the freedom of lifestyle, press, speech, association, movement, and right to live, to own property, to be protected. In ancient Athens they didn’t believe in individuality.

In antiquity, the Athenian population included a large number of slaves that did all the work and like the women they didn’t had the right to vote or take any part in political life. Today only the prisoners and people with mental problems can’t vote. About 508 BC, Cleisthenes invented a ne

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