How is democracy different from other forms of government

The definition of the word "democracy" is government by the people ... A democracy is different from governments such as an absolute monarchy, a dictatorship, or an oligarchy in that in a democracy the citizens have a clear voice in their government, either direct or indirect.

The U. S. is not truly a democracy, we are a federal republic, specifically we are a democratic federal republic because our officials are elected by all the people. The term federal refers to the fact that we are in truth, a union of states with a federal government. This term may become more important in the near future if any of the states with secession legislation on their dockets actually tries to vote on this legislation. (See bills in New Hampshire, Arizona and several other states) The term republic comes from ancient Rome rather than Greece and a Republic is a modified type of Democracy. True Athenian Democracy does not work in a large state. It is unmanageable.