Democracy: GCSE History Definition

What is Democracy?

In GCSE History, democracy is a system of government where the eligible members of the population hold the power, either directly or indirectly through elected representatives. The eligible population choose their representatives through free elections every few years, or when a new election is called.

There are many different types of democracies. The two main forms of democracy are: 

• Representative democracy

  • A system of government where the eligible population elect representatives who propose and vote on legislation on behalf of the population 

  • This was established in the United States of America after the American Revolution (1775-1783) 

• Parliamentary democracy 

  • A system of government where the eligible population elect representatives to parliament who make laws on the population's behalf 

  • This was established in Weimar Germany (1918-1933) after the First World War

Democracy Revision Resources to Ace Your Exams

Explore our revision notes for Edexcel GCSE, AQA GCSE and CIE IGCSE to see where democracy fits into the revision notes for those specifications

Why not use the Save My Exams flashcards and exam questions to revise democracy and related topics? 

GCSE History Revision Resources