democracynoun
uk/dɪˈmɒk.rə.si/us/-ˈmɑː.krə-/B2 [ U ] the belief in freedom and equality between people, or a system of government based on this belief, in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves:
The government has promised to uphold the principles of democracy.
The early 1990s saw the spread of democracy in Eastern Europe.
B2 [ C ] a country in which power is held by elected representatives:
Few of the Western democracies still have a royal family.
More examples
- A strong opposition is vital to a healthy democracy.
- There cannot be true democracy without reform of the electoral system.
- Sweden is often held up as an example of a successful social democracy.
- The recent free elections mark the next step in the country's progress towards democracy.
- Western governments should be giving more aid to the emerging democracies of the Third World.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Systems of government
- a reign of terror idiom
- absolutism
- ancien régime
- anti-federalist
- apartheid
- Dem
- democrat
- democratic
- democratize
- despot
- interregnum
- Jim Crow
- junta
- kleptocracy
- majority rule
- plutocracy
- plutocrat
- police state
- regime
- reign
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