That form of govern-ment in which the sovereign power resides in and is exercised by the whole body of free citizens; qs distinguished from a monarchy, aristocracy, or oligarchy. According to the theory of a pure democracy, every citizen should participate directly in the business of governing, and tbe legislative assembly should comprise the whole people. But the nltimate lodgment of the sovereignty being tbe distinguishing feature, the introduction of the representative system does not remove a government from this type. Hosvever, a government of tbe latter kind is sometimes specifically described as a “representative de-mocracy.”
Source: Black’s Law Dictionary 2nd Ed (1910)
