<P> In a general sense , in a democracy , all the people of a state or polity are involved in making decisions about its affairs . Also refer to the rule by a government chosen by election where most of the populace are enfranchised . The key distinction between a democracy and other forms of constitutional government is usually taken to be that the right to vote is not limited by a person 's wealth or race ( the main qualification for enfranchisement is usually having reached a certain age ) . A democratic government is , therefore , one supported ( at least at the time of the election ) by a majority of the populace ( provided the election was held fairly ) . A `` majority '' may be defined in different ways . There are many `` power - sharing '' ( usually in countries where people mainly identify themselves by race or religion ) or `` electoral - college '' or `` constituency '' systems where the government is not chosen by a simple one - vote - per - person headcount . </P>
<P> In a general sense , in a democracy , all the people of a state or polity are involved in making decisions about its affairs . Also refer to the rule by a government chosen by election where most of the populace are enfranchised . The key distinction between a democracy and other forms of constitutional government is usually taken to be that the right to vote is not limited by a person 's wealth or race ( the main qualification for enfranchisement is usually having reached a certain age ) . A democratic government is , therefore , one supported ( at least at the time of the election ) by a majority of the populace ( provided the election was held fairly ) . A `` majority '' may be defined in different ways . There are many `` power - sharing '' ( usually in countries where people mainly identify themselves by race or religion ) or `` electoral - college '' or `` constituency '' systems where the government is not chosen by a simple one - vote - per - person headcount . </P>
a government that is chosen by its citizens is called a
a government that is chosen by its citizens is called a
democracy
democracy