The word ‘democracy» is a term that comes from Greek and it
is made up with two other words demos= People and kratein= to govern, to rule.
“Democracy” can then be literally translated by the following terms: Government
of the People or Government of the Majority. Democracy, as a State form, is to
be distinguished from monarchy, aristocracy and dictatorship. You may have
already heard about the most common definition of democracy: ‘the government of
the people, by the people and for the people’ (Abraham Lincoln)? To put it
another way we can say that a government comes from the people; it is exercised
by the people, and for the purpose of the people’s own interests. This
description is only a very broad one, to start with, but the pages that follow
will explain to you in a more concise way the different facets of democracy.