Political Science

According to Merriam-Websters Dictionary of Law (1996), a democratic form of government is the one through which the political leaders are elected by the citizens in multiparty multi candidate free electoral procedures. The leading and the opposing parties have equal legal chances of participating in and attaining power. This is the form of government where leadership is reliant on the voice of the people either directly from them or through their representatives. The responsibility of acting on behalf for the common interest of the people is vested on these representatives. These representatives however do not act as an alternative representative of the people.  The United States and Canada are some of the best examples of democratic governments. In democratic form of government, the winning candidate in the election must garner more votes than all the other contesters in the race. There exist different kinds of democracy.

Representative Democracy
This is a type of democracy whereby the responsibility of representing the people is vested on a few elected individuals. There are two types of representative democracy. That is presidential and parliamentary democracy (Wissen, n.d).

Presidential democracy
Wissen, (n.d), states that presidential democracy is the kind of democracy portrayed in the United States. In this kind of democracy, there is a clear distinction between the parliament and the president. The executive president is voted into power separately form the parliamentary elections. Democracy Building (2004), states that the president is the head of state and also the leader of government. In this kind of democracy, the president cannot dissolve the parliament and also the parliament cannot vote out the president. The president nominates the ministers and stays in office for a specified period of time. In presidential democracy, it is not a must that government members are members of parliament.

Parliamentary democracy
According to Democracy Building, (2004), this is the type of democracy portrayed in countries such as the UK and Germany. In this form of democracy, the head of state is an elected person. The government is elected by the parliament and is based on the majority. The parliament is elected for a specified period of time but may be dissolved in cases where a clear majority cannot be established.  It is a requirement that the members of the government in parliamentary democracy be elected members of parliament. The political parties have got a very strong position as opposed to the position of the people. The parliament debates all the laws and passes them.

Liberal democracy or constitutional democracy
This is the form of democracy whereby the decision making power of the elected representatives is dependent on the rule of law. The ability to make these decisions is also restrained by the constitution. The constitution puts more emphasis on individuals rights and freedom protection (Democracy Building, 2004).

Direct Democracy
In this mode of democracy, members of government posses equal rights and are elected by the parliament. This is done in such a way as to represent a majority of all parties. The parliament is elected for a specified period of time and is not subject to dissolution. It is not a requirement for members of the government to be members of parliament. The people pose a very strong say in the government decision making hence produces very effective checks and balances. The intense public debates held during law making process ensure that everyones views are well represented in the constitution.
Examples from current events can you identify by providing evidence of democracy at work in America

According to Democracy building (2004), the US president exercises more powers and he may act immediately in all matters that need urgency. In the US, where the form of democracy is presidential, the president is supposed to appoint the members of parliament. This is the exact case that happened when president Barrack Obama took office. He appointed the ministers who included the current secretary of states for the United States, Hillary Clinton.

The president as the commander in chief of all the armed forces authorizes the armed forces to go to war. This is the case as it happened with George Bush who sent the American forces to war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Conclusion
Different kinds of democracy are practiced by various countries in one way or the other. The different kinds of democracies show that democracy has been in existence for a very long time and that it has been practiced in diverse means. It has been shown that democracy is not fixed on an idea or the structure of a state but it is subject to change. The United States and Canada are some of the best examples in the world where democracy is practiced.