World Democracy Online
Welcome to World Democracy Online. Democracy is a political government either carried out by the people (direct democracy), or the power to govern is granted to elected representatives (republicanism).
Even though there is no specific, universally accepted definition of ‘democracy’, there are two principles that any definition of democracy includes, equality and freedom. These principles are reflected by all citizens being equal before the law, and having equal access to power. A third common principle, though less measurable, is that all citizens are promised certain legitimized freedoms and liberties, which are generally protected by a constitution.
There are several varieties of democracy, some of which provide better representation and more freedoms for their citizens than others. However, if any democracy is not carefully legislated to avoid an uneven distribution of political power with balances, such as the separation of powers, then a branch of the system of rule could accumulate power and become harmful to the democracy itself.
The “majority rule” is often described as a characteristic feature of democracy, but without responsible government or constitutional protections of individual liberties from democratic power it is possible for dissenting individuals to be oppressed by the “tyranny of the majority”. An essential process in representative democracies is competitive elections, that are fair both substantively and procedurally. Furthermore, freedom of political expression, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are essential so that citizens are informed and able to vote in their personal interests.
Democracy has been called the “last form of government” and has spread considerably across the globe. Thank you for visiting and supporting WorldDemocracyOnline.com. 
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Maps
The following 3 maps provide a great graphical representation about democracy in today’s world. Courtesy of Wikipedia.org…
The first map shows Democracy Index as published in January, 2007. The palest blue countries get a score above 9.5 out of 10 (with Sweden being the most democratic country at 9.88), while the black countries score below 2 (with North Korea being the least democratic at 1.03).
Since World War II, democracy has gained widespread acceptance. This map displays the official self identification made by world governments with regard to democracy, as of March 2008. It shows the de jure status of democracy in the world.[citation needed] Governments self identified as democratic[citation needed] Governments not self identified as democratic: Vatican City, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and Brunei.[citation needed]
Political ratings of countries according to Freedom House’s Freedom in the World survey, 2009: Free Partly Free Not Free The report states that economic freedom, not democracy, leads to political freedom.
