(from δημος, people, and κρατος, to command or govern), the same with a popular government, in which the supreme power is lodged in the hands of the people. Such were the governments of Rome and Athens of old; but the most perfect example of democracy is afforded by the United States of North America at the present day, the government of which, for the security it gives, the good order it preserves, the small burdens it imposes, and the judgment with which its foreign and domestic policy has been conducted, deserves to be considered as one of the best and wisest in the world.