Many Americans are under the assumption that Democracy is a fairly new idea when in fact it is an ancient idea that has been formed, contemplated, and refined for over twenty five hundred years (Dahl, 3). Since its formation in small scattered civilizations, through its manifestations in ancient Greece and Rome, all the way to the current faces of democratic society around the world today, the system has been refining its boundaries and the premises on which it was built. In its essence, a democracy is a society of the people that is ruled by the people. The citizens of a democratic state or country exercise a control over their own lives, laws, and destinies. In Robert Dahl’s book “On Democracy”, he outlines his view of what the fundamental principals of a democracy are.

A democracy provides for the effective participation of all its citizens (Dahl, 38). This is, perhaps, the most funda

There are certain conditions that have been shown to make for a more effective and more stable, long-lasting democracy. A major one is the control of the military and police by elected officials (Dahl, 147). Many times in the past have police states and military rule terrorized the citizens of a country. Even if a country is otherwise democratic, a self-governed military or a police force controlled by a specific interest can undermine the entire system and perhaps even seize power from the democracy and set up a self-serving, non-democratic society. Related to this, the threat of invasion or intervention by a neighboring non-democratic country can greatly threaten a country’s security. As Dahl pointed out, this is what happened to Czechoslovakia after WWII (Dahl, 147-148). Czechoslovakia might be a democratic nation today if it wasn’t for the intervention of the Soviet Union.

Another sign of a prospering democracy is in its economic standing. By the end of the twentieth century, all of the democratic governments in the world had market economies (Dahl, 59). As can be witnessed all around the globe, market economies make money; the world is a market. When a democratic country prospers economically, the wealth is often distributed throughout the populous in one way or another in contrast to other forms of government where the wealth is held by the ruling regime.

Another aspect of a democratic government is the control of the agenda by the people of that society (Dahl, 38). It is necessary for the citizens to choose what matters are to be addressed by the government as it is the citizens that will fair the results.

In its essence, democracy is built upon the people, their beliefs and aspirations, their concerns and interests, and their security and decisions, by the effort that they put forth towards the balance of the democratic system. However a working democracy is far more complicated and abstracted than its essence would let on. Because it is first built upon the people however, it takes a certain type of thought and culture to make it work. It requires belief in the system and its ideals and an involvement in public matters to keep the wheels of democracy turning. It requires an educated public to make the necessary judgments and take the right actions. Each citizen should realize their duty to take an active roll and, in a sense, be the government because in a democracy it is your government as it is mine as it belongs to each

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