[de.moc.ra.cy] n, pl -cies [MF democratie, fr. LL democratia, fr. Gk demokratia, fr. demos + -kratia -cracy] (1576) 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 usu. involving periodically held free elections
2: a political unit that has a democratic government 3 cap: the principles and policies of the Democratic party in the U.S.
4: the common people esp. when constituting the source of political authority
5: the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges