9: State Formation: What makes a state a democracy?

Chapter 4: Democracies and Democratization
In its simplest terms, democracy is a government system in which the supreme power of government is vested in the people. Democracy comes from the Greek word, dēmokratiā, where “demos” means “people”, and “kratos” meaning “power” or “rule.” Prior to the formation of legal reforms, Athens had operated as an aristocracy.

Democracy Indexes: Freedom House’s Freedom in the World Report 2023

Click link above to read the report.

Attributions

Chapter 4: Democracies and Democratization
Source: Julia Wendt, Ph.D., Dino Bozonelos, Ph.D. & Stefan Veldhuis. Introduction to Comparative Government and Politics, 1st Edition. Please visit https://introcp.com/ for latest PDF version
License: Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial (CC BY NC)

Democracy Indexes: Freedom House’s Freedom in the World Report
Source: Freedom in the World via Freedom House, https://freedomhouse.org/
Contact: info@freedomhouse.org and research@freedomhouse.org