Democracy

Bibliographic Data

ID7076293
AuthorsK Sanderson (0000-0002-4097-0496, corresponding author), Stephen K Sanderson
Year2017
Pages1-4
Publication date2017-09-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeOTHER
VenueThe Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (JOURNAL)
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosd016
OpenAlexW4230276070
ISBN9781405165518
LanguageEN
References cited16

Genuinely democratic governments have flourished only in the past two centuries – and mostly within the past century. The four main characteristics of the most fully developed democracies are parliamentary or congressional bodies with a power base that is independent of presidents or prime ministers; the regular, free, and fair election of government officials, with the entire adult population having the right to vote; the responsibility of other divisions of government to the parliament or legislature; and individual rights and freedoms pertaining to the entire population and their general honoring. It is important to distinguish between formal democracies, in which the formal apparatus of democracy exists but democratic principles are usually not upheld in practice, and substantive democracies, which not only have the formal machinery of democratic government but, generally, implement this machinery consistently. Another important distinction is that between restricted democracies, or those in which the right to vote is limited to certain segments of the adult population (such as men, property owners, or white people), and unrestricted democracies, or those in which the entire adult population has the right to vote

Democracy · Economic history · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · History · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Religion and Society Interactions

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