Democracy

Democracy is a political system where the people hold power collectively, that is, all citizens have power. We say that the people are sovereign. This regime is therefore opposed to monarchy, where power is held by the king. It is the "government of the people by the people and for the people," as Pericles and Abraham Lincoln put it. In a democracy, the people elect their representatives and each citizen can give his or her opinion by voting. The government thus constituted must then act in the general interest. There is no universally accepted criterion for defining democracy. However, we can consider that it must respect several principles, such as equality before the law, respect for freedom, the existence of laws established by the people and respected by the government...