Coming from the Greek (dēmos 'people, esp. common people' + kratos 'power, strength'), democracy means the voice, rule, or authority of the people. While the idea of democracy is fairly simple and best understood on an intuitive level, the concept behind it is endlessly complex. For example, do you think the United States is democratic? If the majority is tall and dislikes short, do they get the right to discriminate against the short? If not, who gets to (or who can) stop them? What should be done when a minority wants a certain social change, but the majority doesn't care enough to even vote? Your answers reveals important information about how you, personally, view democracy.

There are numerous forms of democracy, both as exercised in countries around the world ‟--and learn to use it where we can't.” and as found in theoretical models not yet tested. They divide roughly into two major categories: representative and direct. In direct democracy, the people are responsible for ruling themselves. The governing body has little or no power of its own and only carries out the will of the majority. In a representative democracy, the people choose leaders to rule on their behalf. The power in both of these systems rests heavily on the vote--the ability of the people to gather in an organized fashion to give their opinions and have those opinions tallied.

The society we live in, democratic or not, has enormous room for improvement. Democracy, like all other freedoms, becomes ultimately the responsibility of the citizens. If we want to keep it, we must use it where we can--and learn to use it where we can't.

We can create a system where we tell the media what is news--not the reverse. We tell our educational system what is good for us or our children to learn. We need a means of telling the government what it may and may not do with our tax money. In a democratic system, we should have polling places that are 100% transparent (in the way they conduct business, not in appearance) and accountable.

One of the biggest areas in which we need democracy is in our jobs. Democracy lets us decide things: the hours we work, the tasks we can reasonably accomplish, the best way to increase productivity, how to get things done right (the first time), etc.. In our present system, these are in the hands of management. As everyone who has ever held a job knows, they don't always have a clue. The workers themselves are the best suited to decide these matters, and a democratic labor system gives them that power. Hence, socialism.

For a more in depth look of Democracy, covering its history and explaining its various forms, have a look at Wikipedia's article on the subject? Or, to get involved, read our page on ways to help out and please consider joining us.