Democracy is multidimensional, encompassing contestation, participation, accountability, and civilian control.

Evidence

Democracy is a political concept involving several dimensions: (1) contestation over policy and political competition for office; (2) participation of the citizenry through partisan, associational, and other forms of collective action; (3) accountability of rulers to the ruled through mechanism of representation and the rule of law; and (4) civilian control over the military. (Karl 1990, 2) Democracy is a political concept involving several dimensions: (1) contestation over policy and political competition for office; (2) participation of the citizenry through partisan, associational, and other forms of collective action; (3) accountability of rulers to the ruled through mechanism of representation and the rule of law; and (4) civilian control over the military. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 486

Categorization

• SHARE: Narrow, cite-able four-dimension definition (Karl 1990) worth sending to whoever is arguing about what counts as a democracy.