Politics, democracy and participation

What is politics?

Activities that take place within the government. t is concerned with developing a knowledge and understanding of government. in particular, it is about the struggle for power and influence between competing groups and individuals. 

What is democracy? 

a democracy is when a country allows a countries entire population to have a say in its governing body usually through elections. 

In ancient Athens, every qualified citizen (not including women, slaves and non-Athenians) has the chance to participate in political decision making. Citizens gathered together and voted directly on issues of current interest and concern. This is called direct democracy. in today's industrialised societies, people cannot come together to disucss and vote on issues. They elect representatives on their behalf. This is called indirect or representative democracy. The key elements of a modern representative deomocracy include: 

• popular control of policy makers
• the existence of open and organised opposition
• popular equality (one person, one vote)
• majority rule
• …