Democracy

Democracy is a form of government where people get to vote and have a say in how things are run. The word comes from ancient Greek and means "rule by the people." Democracy started in Athens, Greece, thousands of years ago. Today, many countries around the world are democracies.

How Democracy Works

In a democracy, citizens vote to choose their leaders. People can share their opinions freely. The government must follow rules, often written in a constitution. If leaders do a bad job, the people can vote them out in the next election.

Different Kinds of Democracy

In a direct democracy, people vote on every issue themselves. This is how it worked in ancient Athens. In a representative democracy, people vote for leaders who make decisions for them. Most modern democracies are representative because countries are too large for everyone to vote on everything.

Fun Facts

• Athens, Greece, created one of the first democracies about 2,500 years ago.
• India is the world's largest democracy with over 1.4 billion people.
• In ancient Athens, officials were sometimes chosen by drawing names from a pot, like a lottery.

Did You Know?

In ancient Athens, only adult male citizens could vote, which meant women, enslaved people, and foreigners were left out.