term:

Democracy

democracy n

pl: -cies
1 a : government by the people
;esp
: rule of the majority
b : a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections
2 : a political unit that has a democratic government
dem·o·crat·ic [de-mə-kra-tik]
adj

dem·o·crat·i·cal·ly adv

Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law ©1996. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.