Democracy comes from the Greek words demos meaning “the people”, and kratos meaning “rule”. So democracy means “the rule of the people”

In a direct democracy, decisions are made by all the members of a community. However, direct democracy is not practical in communities with millions of people (like a country). This is because:

1. Modern democracies involve such as large number of people that it is impossible for them to gather together to make decisions.
2. Most citizens do not have the time, the desire or required knowledge to take part in every decision made in community.

For these reasons, indirect, or “representative” democracy is the most common form of democratic government.