1. Democracy is a form of government where rulers are elected by the people. It is derived from the Greek words "demos" meaning people and "kratia" meaning rule. 2. There are two main types of democracy - direct democracy practiced in small ancient societies and indirect democracy where representatives elected by the people make decisions on their behalf as seen in most modern democracies. 3. For a system to be truly democratic it requires free and fair elections where those in power have a chance of losing, one person gets one vote of equal value, and the government rules within constitutional limits.