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Principles of Democracy

🏛️ Politics & Public Administration By CampusDown Wiki Editorial Team Last updated
Quick answer: democracy is a system in which the people, as sovereign, govern themselves, resting on popular sovereignty, political equality, majority rule with minority rights, the rule of law and the separation of powers. Elections alone are not enough; free expression and association and checks on power must also be guaranteed.
Contents
  1. 1. Meaning and values
  2. 2. Basic principles
  3. 3. Defining democracy: procedures and criteria
  4. 4. Forms of democracy
  5. 5. References

Meaning and values

Democracy comes from the Greek demos (people) and kratos (rule), meaning "rule by the people". Beginning with citizens deciding directly in the assembly of ancient Athens, it developed through Locke's social contract, Montesquieu's separation of powers and Rousseau's popular sovereignty into today's constitutional democracy, grounded in human dignity, liberty and equality.

Basic principles

  • Popular sovereignty: the legitimacy of state power comes from the people, and rulers exercise power on their mandate.
  • Political equality: every citizen has an equal vote and equal opportunity to participate (one person, one vote).
  • Majority rule and minority rights: when opinions differ the majority decides, but it may not violate the basic rights of the minority, and the minority must have the chance to become the majority.
  • Rule of law: rulers too are under the law and may exercise power only within legal procedures and limits.
  • Separation of powers and checks and balances: dividing legislative, executive and judicial power prevents its concentration and abuse; the concrete form differs between presidential and parliamentary systems.
  • Protection of basic rights: freedom of expression, assembly and association lets citizens get information and organize alternatives.

Defining democracy: procedures and criteria

Schumpeter (1942) defined democracy as an institutional arrangement in which leaders acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the people's vote, focusing on electoral procedure. Dahl (1971) called real-world regimes that approximate the democratic ideal "polyarchies" and compared regimes along two dimensions: public contestation (liberalization) and participation (inclusiveness). In On Democracy (1998) he listed the institutions large-scale democracy requires: elected officials, free, fair and frequent elections, freedom of expression, alternative sources of information, associational autonomy and inclusive citizenship.

Forms of democracy

  • Direct democracy: citizens decide themselves (referendums, initiatives, recalls).
  • Representative democracy: elected representatives decide; electoral systems also shape party systems (Duverger's law).
  • Participatory democracy: widens citizen participation in local and everyday life (local self-government).
  • Deliberative democracy: values agreement reached through information and discussion before voting (deliberative polling).

See also: T. H. Marshall's Theory of Citizenship

References

  1. Dahl, R. A. (1971). Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale University Press.
  2. Dahl, R. A. (1998). On Democracy. New Haven: Yale University Press.
  3. Schumpeter, J. A. (1942). Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. New York: Harper & Brothers.

Reports and materials that use this theory (Korean)

There are no materials dedicated to this theory yet, but you can search related reports in the CampusDown library (Korean).

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This article was last updated on October 15, 2026. It is based on widely recognized original works and textbooks; when citing it in a paper, please check the original sources listed in the references.