My rough definition of “Democracy” is that it is a system of government in which open deliberation results in policies being decided or leaders being chosen, (or both) by the people being governed.

The word “democracy” has been used to describe indigenous governance in our part of the world (northeastern North America) prior to the arrival of Europeans. The traditional Native system certainly meets the criteria of my crude definition. There are, however, significant differences with Western practices. In the indigenous system, decisions were made by consensus, not by voting. Also, every member of the polity (Tribe or Nation) had a say in the outcome. Suffrage, in other words, was universal, including men, women, and children.

The New England Town Meeting is a deliberative body in which voting determines the outcome (the majority rules). Town Meeting is often cited as an example of “pure direct democracy” harking back to the origin of the word to describe the Classical Greek form of government in Athens.

demos (the people) + kratia (authority) = demokratia (the people rule), which (via Greek) entered the French language as democratie and into English in the late 15th century as democracy

The central events of the Athenian democracy were the meetings of the assembly. Unlike a parliament, the assembly’s members were not elected, but attended by right when they chose. Greek democracy created at Athens was direct, rather than representative: any adult male citizen over the age of 20 could take part, and it was a duty to do so. The officials of the democracy were in part elected by the Assembly and in large part chosen by lottery in a process called sortition. [source: wikipedia]

What is your definition of “democracy”? I would love to hear ideas from readers.