ideal democracy

An "ideal democracy" serves as a theoretical model in political science to understand and evaluate actual democratic systems. It's important to distinguish between two senses of "ideal": one that exists independently of empirical conditions, used to identify essential features, and another that represents a moral best, a goal to strive for.12

An ideal democracy, at a minimum, requires:
* Effective participation: Citizens can voice their opinions on policies before decisions are made.2
* Equality in voting: All votes are equal, and citizens can vote for or against policies.2
* Informed electorate: Citizens have access to information about policies and alternatives.2
* Citizen control of the agenda: The demos (citizenry) determines what issues are discussed and decided upon.2
* Inclusion: All members of the demos can participate equally.2
* Fundamental rights: These include rights to communicate, vote equally, gather information, participate, and control the agenda.2

While direct democracy may more closely approximate the ideal in small associations, modern representative democracies use institutions like free elections and freedom of association to achieve a satisfactory level of democracy. However, actual democracies often fall short of this ideal.13