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The Netherlands What is a democracy? Democracy, as defined by the Greeks, means rule by rank and file citizens. Today, most people think of democracy as the form of government that emphasizes the procedures that enable the people to govern themselves through voting in elections and selecting representatives. Most Americans are familiar with the democratic system they live under, and participate regularly in government actions by simply voting at the polls. Without the participation of the people, a democratic government would be obsolete. The United States operates under a form of pluralist democracy in which the term “governed by the people” is interpreted as government by the people operating through competing interest groups. The system is not purely majoritarian, because the people as a whole do not vote on and determine the outcome of every government decision. Instead, the citizens select representatives through statewide elections based on the delegate’s beliefs and agenda. These representatives then strive to achieve the agendas they preached to the voters during the elections. The United States system is broken into three branches: executive, judicial, and legislative. These three groups have differe