democratic ideals
Rule by citizens
Democratic ideals are the principles underlying democratic governance: popular sovereignty, political equality, individual rights, and rule of law.
The phrase appears frequently in political rhetoric and civics education: America was founded on democratic ideals, The movement sought to uphold democratic ideals.
Whether a society lives up to its democratic ideals is a perennial question.
- human rightsInalienable personal freedoms
- civil libertiesRights limiting government power
- free speechProtected verbal liberty
- civic engagementActive citizenship in community
- peaceful protestNonviolent collective expression of dissent
equality · suffrage · constitutionality · egalitarianism · transparency · due process · accountability · pluralism · checks and balances · legal equity · level playing field · human dignity · representation · judicial independence · self-determination · inclusion · popular sovereignty · universal suffrage
- democracyvote, voting, election, elections, ballot
- American thoughttranscendentalism, Emerson, Thoreau, self-reliance, individualism
- enlightenmentVoltaire, Rousseau, Locke, Kant, Montesquieu
- American LiteratureThe Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Scarlet Letter, Moby-Dick, Moby Dick
- American EssaysThoreau, Emerson, self-reliance, Walden, civil disobedience
- Jefferson EraThomas Jefferson, Democratic-Republicans, Louisiana Purchase, Monticello, Lewis and Clark
democratic idealsauthoritarianism
Concentrated, unchecked governmental power
totalitarianism · tyranny · despotism · dictatorship · fascism
democratic idealselitism
Preference for privileged rule
caste systems · social stratification · tribalism · ethnonationalism · supremacism
democratic idealsoppression
Unjust exercise of power
subjugation · repression · state control · censorship · political persecution