In a local playground, a group of nine children cannot decide on what game to play. A young girl suggests they vote on the issue. All the children vote, and five out of the nine children vote to play tag instead of basketball. Since more children wanted to play tag than basketball, the children agreed to play tag. This example is democracy at its simplest form.
             According to The New Webster's Dictionary Of The English Language, democracy is a "government by the people, usually through elected representatives." This is true, but there is not just one form of democracy. The two main forms of democracy are elite democracy, and a popular democracy. The definition given is referring to an elite democracy, where the people elect officials to represent them as a whole. In a popular democracy there are no elected officials for representation, the people represent themselves.
             Elite democracy, also known as representative democracy, is when the masses vote to elect a group of people to represent them. The representatives were upper class, meaning they were highly educated and usually wealthy. In the late 1700's, a group of people called Federalists supported elite democracy. The Federalists believed if majority ruled, the masses would lead to a society where peoples rights and property would be under siege. The Federalists believed that humans are naturally greedy and selfish. They also believed that the elite had grown beyond such desires and were able to truly seek out the common good. And if one representative should try to gain more power than another, the Constitution's system of checks and balances would prevent it from happening.
             Popular democracy, also known as direct democracy, is when all issues are handled and resolved by the people directly. Under this form of democracy, elected officials aren't needed because the people are representing themselves. The Anti-Federalists of the late 1700's had ...