ABSTRACT
Democracy is a word that is commonly used today. It is often used to mean periodic election and removal or retention of government by the people, and is also used to mean multiparty competition for power. Democracy reflects all these dimensions. Indeed, following Robert Dahl (1971, pp. 2-3), I take it to mean a political system in which government is responsive to the preferences of its citizens, considered as political equals. Theoretically, a government of one man/woman could be responsive even if not elected by the governed, but this will not pass for democracy. For a system to be democratic, citizens must have the right to contest for government and to elect and cashier public officials. It is these constraints that make government responsive to the preferences of the citizens.
