A recent study has found that as many as 2,234 English words are used to describe democracy. Although the term has existed for two millennia, scholars and philosophers still are arguing about its definition. Democracy affects business, governance, social life, and even public health. It gives us a vast space for debate and reflection.
This article features 400 democracy research topics for papers on political science, history, sociology, and other related subjects. Some of the topics can even be used as discussion questions for in-class debates or argumentative assignments. So, let’s get started!
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🔝 Top 15 Democracy Essay Topics
- Are people happier in democratic countries?
- Democracy is a myth we all dream to be true.
- Famous dictators who promised to be democrats.
- Democratic socialism is not a democracy, after all.
- Is democracy possible in a country living under Sharia law?
- Democracy is more than a government: it is the way of thinking.
- How does democracy shape the mindset of the general public?
- One cannot build a democratic state using totalitarian measures.
- Is democracy a utopia or just another stage of human civilization?
- Will humanity ever create something more perfect than democracy?
- The principal human freedoms are possible only in a democratic state.
- The COVID pandemic has made us more democratic than ever before.
- Does a democratic government guarantee economic growth and stability?
- Economic inequality among citizens is a stumbling point for any democracy.
- Describe the different democracy types and think about which is the most efficient.
📚 Democracy Research: The Basics
Democracy (“rule of the people” from Greek) is a form of government that allows people to choose their governors and approve the legislation. The term appeared in Athens (Ancient Greece) in opposition to aristocracy (“rule of the elite”).
Despite what the etymology prescribed, all the democratic governments before the suffrage movement (19th – 20th centuries) consisted of a small elite group. But they dramatically differed from tyranny and monarchy common at that time.
Types of Democracy
Kofi Annan claimed that there are as many variants of democracy as there are democratic states. In any case, democracy has three principal forms:
Democracy Index
The Economist research team invented the Democracy Index to compare all the world’s countries based on the level of public freedoms. With its help, they have singled out the following variants of regimes:
- Full democracies
- Flawed democracies
- Hybrid regimes
- Authoritarian regimes
Criticism
📜 History of Democracy Research Topics
- Is it possible that economic democracy will lead to political democracy inexorably?
- What influence did democracy have on Idaho’s adopting a statewide bill?
- To what extent democracy in Boise is valid?
- Analyze the ways of fostering democracy in modern times.
- Can energy democracy prosper in a non-democratic state?
- Compare liberal democracy and social democracy.
- How have innovations altered the contemporary form of democracy?
- Explain the role of media in promoting democracy.
- How did the democracy of ancient Athens differ from modern democracy?
- Will new communication technologies usher in a new democratic age?
- Limitations of heightened individuality and basic democracy.
- Describe the establishment of a democratic government in Botswana.
- How do the Texas Democratic and Republican party platforms differ?
- Describe and compare potential proto-democratic societies.
- Support or criticize Thorkild Jacobsen’s theory that pre-Babylonian Mesopotamia can be considered a primitive democracy.
- What are the distinctive traits of Athenian democracy?
- How were Plato’s divisions different from Athenian democracy?
- Issues of ancient Athenian democracy.
- How effective was Athenian democracy?
- The role of the early civil rights movement in advancing the rights of minorities.
- How democratic is the American Constitution?
- How far had Britain moved towards a full democracy by 1928?
- Roman Empire’s divergence from the Roman Republic.
- How did the Roman Republic become more democratic over time?
- The social structure of the Roman Republic as a precursor to democracy.
- Explore the recession and democratic approach of the Roman Republic.
- Review of Anglo-Saxon rulership in relation to the democratic world.
- The sources of democratic legitimacy during the 17th century.
- Study the emergence of civil society in the early modern period.
- Can craft guilds be considered as faulty democracy?
- Describe the specifics of civil society in the early modern period.
- The idea of democracy in the modern era.
- Examine the conceptual history of democracy in modern Europe.
- Explain the necessity of the Corsican Revolution for democracy.
- What instigated the extension of political rights to various social classes?
- How did the development of social movements in the 1780s revolutionize politics?
- Renaissance humanism as a democratic cultural movement.
- Low-level democracy in Tacitus.
- Describe the introduction of the idea that powerholders are responsible to an electorate.
- Did John Stuart Mill place any limits on his notion of liberty?
- How did the French Revolution both support and violate its motto?
- Analyze and compare the three waves of democracy.
- Explain the concept of E-democracy.
- What was the most crucial feature of the Roman Republic?
- Comparison of the world’s first fully functioning democratic societies.
- Evolution of direct democracy in Ancient Greece.
- The importance of patricians in the early Roman Republic.
- How was the Roman government structured and ruled?
- The beginning of the post-monarchical political organization.
- What caused the expansion of 18th-century nobles’ democracy?
🔍 Theory of Democracy Research Topics
- How does Socrates’ vision of Athenian democracy differ from that of Pericles?
- What was the reasoning behind Aristotle’s preference for monarchy over democracy?
- What did Aristotle believe about government?
- Aristotle on democracy and government.
- Why is John Locke called “the father of democracy”?
- What was John Locke’s idea about government?
- How does Locke’s concept of democracy transcend to the current times?
- What is equality in John Locke’s Second Treatise?
- What steps did Cleisthenes take to create a limited democracy in Athens?
- What were the reforms of Cleisthenes?
- Describe how Cleisthenes strengthened Athenian democracy.
- Explain why Cicero is considered the defender of the Roman Republic.
- How did Cicero envision ideal democracy?
- What type of government did Cicero believe in?
- William Penn’s contribution to democracy.
- What was William Penn’s most significant accomplishment?
- Did William Penn establish freedom of religion in Pennsylvania?
- The value of Rousseau’s philosophy for the world of today.
- How divergent were Rousseau’s views on sovereignty?
- What are the main points of Rousseau’s social contract?
- Is Rousseau’s claim that “all men are born equal and free” valid today?
- Why did Thomas Paine argue for independence?
- Did Thomas Paine support the abolitionist movement?
- How did Thomas Paine influence the Declaration of Independence?
- Did Thomas Jefferson want a strong or weak government?
- Why did Jefferson advocate for absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority?
- Analyze Thomas Jefferson’s abandonment of personal ethics in the Louisiana case from a democratic perspective.
- Explore the idea of Jeffersonian democracy.
- Giuseppe Mazzini’s and the tradition of cosmopolitanism.
- How did Mazzini realize the creation of a nation?
- Why was Mazzini called the greatest enemy of social order?
- Did John Stuart Mill believe in liberalism?
- What is Mill’s primary point on the role of government?
- Explain Mill’s idea of freedom.
- Did John Stuart Mill envision democracy as a way of life?
- How did Susan B. Anthony help abolish slavery?
- What is the purpose of Susan B. Anthony’s famous speech?
- The legacy of Susan B. Anthony.
- Examine Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of American democracy.
- What can be attributed to the booming influence of Martin Luther King?
- Discuss Martin Luther’s objections to the indulgence system.
- Racism and opposition to democracy, according to Martin Luther King.
- Is the democracy of Gandhi’s imagination not possible without high morality?
- Why did Gandhi consider that bureaucratic norms could not be reconciled with democracy?
- How did Gandhi add anti-monistic and pluralistic dimensions to the diversity of cultures?
- What challenges did Millicent Fawcett face?
- Was Millicent Fawcett’s foundation of the Suffragettes movement effective?
- The role of Millicent Fawcett in the formation of the NUWSS.
- How did Solon end exclusive aristocratic control of the government?
- Write about Solon’s expansion of the Athenian general assembly as the first step to democracy.
✨ Types of Democracy Research Topics
- The possibility of creating direct democracy in the modern world.
- Analyze the effectiveness of a referendum in direct democracy.
- Describe the distinctive characteristics of Athenian democracy as a direct democracy.
- Discuss the types of direct democracy and their embodiment in history.
- Effectiveness of Switzerland’s political system as a direct democracy.
- The implementation of direct democracy with modern technologies.
- Study the association between direct democracy and anarchism.
- Explore the effectiveness of implementing elements of direct democracy in schools.
- John Stuart Mill’s and Jean Jacques Rousseau’s views on direct democracy.
- Compare the direct democracy types.
- Elements of direct democracy in the Liechtenstein political system.
- Comparative analysis of various types of representative democracy.
- Relationship between election turnout and public satisfaction with candidates.
- Examine the applicability of Edmund Burke’s views on the actions of elected representatives.
- Describe the evolution of representative democracy from the Roman Republic to modern countries.
- Do elected representatives understand the population’s interests?
- The gap between rich and poor: Protecting the wealthy minority by elected representatives.
- The realism of Robert Michels’s ideas on the degradation of representative political systems.
- Analyze the potential advantages, disadvantages, and possibilities of implementing sortition.
- Discuss the anti-democracy values in defensive democracy.
- The Age of Enlightenment was the basis for the emergence of liberal democracy.
- Explore the evolution of public attitudes towards liberalism.
- Compliance of modern liberal states with the requirements of liberalism.
- Fixed terms of government in presidential systems: Advantages and disadvantages.
- Study the effectiveness of the separation of powers as a tool of checks and balances in the presidential system.
- Write about the shortcomings of the presidential system in a crisis.
- Evolution of parliamentarian system: From tribal councils to modern countries.
- Discuss the permissibility of human rights restrictions in democracies.
- Compare the effectiveness of human rights protection mechanisms in various democracies.
- Explain the advantages and disadvantages of rapid legislative change in parliamentary systems.
- Evaluate religious democracy as a form of government.
- Defining democracy: Are any of its types true democracies?
- Between authoritarianism and democracy: Exploring examples of hybrid regimes.
- Can deliberative democracy be effective in decision-making?
- Population perception of monarchs in parliamentary democracy.
- Study examples of nonpartisan democracies.
- Explore the concept of authoritarian democracy and its historical influence.
- Is Israel an example of ethnic democracy?
- Absence of a single model of democracy among world countries.
- Write about a contradiction of the democratic value of protecting minorities in ethnocracy.
- Research Takis Fotopoulos’s ideas about inclusive democracy.
- Public opinion on interactive democracy.
- Examine the potential of digital democracy to widen the gap between rich and poor.
- The link between the type of democracy and the prosperity of society.
- Analyze the association between natural resources and the type of democracy.
- New opportunities for radical democracy due to the Internet.
- Discuss the possibilities of constitutional change in liberal democracies.
- The dominant-party system: Benefits and risks.
- Write about an industrial democracy as an employee motivation tool.
📰 Democratization Research Topics
- The link between democratization and economic prosperity.
- Propaganda as an obstacle to democratization.
- Describe the reasons and prerequisites for the spread of democratic regimes in the 20th century.
- Analyze the impact of democratization on the country’s security.
- The association between democratization and human rights.
- Explain Samuel Huntington’s concept of the waves of democratization.
- World War I and implications for democratization.
- Examine the features of democracies of the third wave of democratization.
- Explore the democratization process through historical examples.
- Events that trigger the process of democratization.
- Ambiguity in measuring the progress of democratization.
- Discuss reasons for the reverse wave of democratization in Asia and Africa in 1958-1975.
- The concept of consolidation of democracy: Prerequisites for the process’s success.
- Compare the influence of masses and elites in different models of transition to democracy.
- Comparison of the consequences of diverse models of transition to democracy: Examples of Chile, Poland, and Mexico.
- Research the relationship between transition patterns and consolidation of democracy.
- Explore the link between different definitions of democracy and approaches to the consolidation process.
- Discuss the association between the existence, duration, quality, and sustainability of democracy.
- Civil society’s influence on the democratization process by the elite’s choice.
- Write about industrialization as a factor in democratization in Latin America.
- Analyze the problems of consolidation in third-wave democracies.
- Influence of the middle class on democratization processes in South Korea.
- Describe the effect of capitalism on the possibilities of democratization and the preservation of authoritarianism.
- Explain the link between the quality of citizens’ education and support for democratic values.
- How does the value of diversity support democratization?
- Is democratic political culture a prerequisite or consequence of democratization?
- Examine the impact of civil rights on the dissemination of democratic values.
- The struggle of civil society against the totalitarian regimes of Eastern Europe in the 80s of the 20th century.
- Civil society as a tool to destabilize democracy: An example of Germany in the 1920s.
- Compare the opportunities for consolidation of democracy in parliamentary and presidential systems.
- Reverse democratization processes in Chile.
- Study the influence of international forces on democratization processes.
- Compare the historical democratization processes in the UK and France.
- Analyze the reasons for the failure of democratization in the Weimar Republic.
- A study of the negative correlation between the country’s natural resources and democratization.
- Write about launching democratization processes as a consequence of wars.
- EU and NATO membership as a motive for democratization.
- Various models of colonization as prerequisites for the sustainability of democracy: North and South America.
- Explore the link between women’s suffrage and waves of democratization.
🗽 The US Democracy Research Topics
- Benefits of a constitutional federal republic system in the US.
- Describe the distribution of power between the branches of the US Government.
- Analyze the US Congress’s role in the formation of democracy in the country.
- Discuss the peculiarity of the electoral process in the US.
- The impact of digital media on modern US democracy.
- Examine the effect of the two-party system on the purity of democracy in the United States of America.
- Polarization of political opinions in the US: An advantage for democracy or a weakness?
- The Trump presidency and American democracy: Can one president make a difference?
- Explore the strategies for supporting democracy in the US.
- Study the contribution of Thomas Jefferson to American democracy.
- How can America’s democracy help reduce inequality?
- The decentralization of the US governance as a key factor in promoting democracy.
- Write about the relationship between public law and democracy in the United States of America.
- Compare the democracy and federalism in the European Union and the US.
- Describe the obstacles to true democracy in the United States and ways to overcome them.
- The gender gap in the US presidential elections.
- Examine the influence of the democratic system on leaders’ political decision-making.
- Political concepts of the relationship between the person and the government.
- Is mass political consciousness a determining factor of the level of democracy?
- Analyze the role of public opinion in democratic elections.
- What is the role of political pluralism and participation in the stability of US democracy?
- Explain the importance of state government for US democracy.
- What is the difference between the powers of the state and federal government?
- Three branches of government and their positive consequences for US democracy.
- Is a four-year term of office reasonable in today’s political environment?
- Discuss the role of referendums in the modern US democratic system.
- Write about the local government jurisdictions in the system of government in the United States.
- The special role of municipal authorities for democratic governance.
🗺️ Democracy in the World Research Topics
- Presidential versus parliamentary political systems in the world.
- How does freedom of speech and media affect the level of democracy in different countries?
- Discuss the voting systems in the United Kingdom.
- How can a constitutional monarchy be democratic?
- Describe the electoral systems and vote counting in democratic elections.
- Analyze the effects of an Independent Judicial System on democracy.
- Models of democracy in the Arab world.
- Is absolute democracy achievable in the real world?
- Corruption as a key factor in counteracting democracy.
- Study the methodology for assessing political rights around the world.
- Explore the relationship between democracy and happiness.
- Informational monopoly as the main enemy of democracy.
- Free elections in Hungary: From a full democracy to electoral autocracy.
- New Democracy: The establishment of new democratic institutions in Eastern Europe.
- Are gender equality and democratization processes connected?
- Write about the state of democracy in Africa.
- Democracy in Southeast Asia and its main issues.
- South Korea’s democratic miracle: What caused its success?
- Explain the danger of corruption and authoritarianism for young democracies.
- Describe the turning point in the formation of democracy in Mexico.
- The United States’ mission in the global struggle for democracy.
- What makes young democracies different?
- The importance of a strong army for democracies.
- Discuss the stages of the transition to democracy in Central Europe.
- Analyze the relationship between education and democracy level in a country.
- Examine the historical experience of the transition from totalitarianism to democracy.
- Trends in the development of democratic political systems in Asian countries.
- Study the relationship between individualism and democracy in the Scandinavian countries.
- Is democracy possible without the rule of law?
- How accurately does the Democracy Index reflect a state of democracy in a country?
- Factors for the country to achieve full democracy.
- Describe the formation of countries with liberal democracy.
- An indirect democratic form of government as the basis of liberal democracy.
- Are elections between several different political parties an essential requirement of democracy?
- Is democracy possible without the division of power into separate branches of government?
- Market economy as one of the determining factors of a democratic system.
- Private property: Is democracy possible without it?
- How is the protection of human rights ensured in a democratic system?
- Ways of providing political freedoms in a democratic country.
- Explain the role of the Constitution as a defining document for ensuring democracy.
- Explore the prevalence of liberal democracies in the world.
- Flawed democracies: Characteristics and features.
- Characteristic features of hybrid regimes of democracy.
- How do authoritarian regimes differ from democracies?
- Political culture and its importance for democracy.
- Voter security: How to ensure it and its significance for democracy.
- How does the influence of foreign countries prevent democracy?
- Discuss the ways of assessing the ability of civil servants to implement policies.
- Should economic standards be considered as a criterion of democracy?
- Success factors in the democracy of top 5 Democracy Index countries.
🗳️ Democracy & Elections Research Paper Topics
- Write about political elections as an element of democracy.
- Elections and political parties as instruments of democracy.
- Democracy, the right to participation, and the electoral process.
- Elections as a means of legitimizing power in the United States.
- Elections are the precondition for true democracy.
- Elections for government, elections for citizens.
- Democratic elections as a tool for the formation of a multi-party system.
- Open elections are an essential tool of democracy.
- The modern electoral system as the basis of democracy.
- Direct or indirect elections: Which is closer to the truth?
- Explain the meaning of democratic elections for the state and citizens.
- Describe the electoral processes in modern Europe.
- Elections are an instrument of transition to democracy.
- Elections and media in the digital age of fraud.
- Are free and open elections the basis of democracy?
- Analyze the historical and legal aspects of the emergence of elections.
- Describe the standards and obligations in the field of elections.
- The development of electoral systems in the modern world.
- Explore the advantages and disadvantages of the electoral system.
- Discuss the opinions of American youth on the electoral system.
- Elections and other forms of direct democracy.
- Digital rehabilitation of democracy and fair elections.
- Study the vectors of the development of electronic electoral democracy.
- A new solution: Electoral engineering for fair elections in the modern world.
- Elections: From antiquity to the present day.
- Effect of elections on business.
- Describe the legal aspect of forced voting in Middle Eastern countries.
- Analyze the functions and influence of elections on political institutions.
- Study the electoral legislation and practice of elections.
- Write about the history of democracy and elections in the US.
- The world of democracy and modern elections.
- Fraudulent democracy: How to win elections effortlessly.
- E-democracy in theory and practice: Is it legit?
- Elections in the world: Electronic voting.
- Mathematical tools for the delegitimization of elections.
- Examine the electoral system of Europe in recent decades.
- Discuss the inclusive electoral processes and their impact on electoral law.
- Political competitiveness is among the basic principles of elections.
- Modern democracy: An evolutionary approach to elections.
- Explore the most problematic aspects of the electoral law in the United States.
- Analysis of an electoral law infringement.
- Elections as a factor in civil society’s development.
- Choose a president without getting up from the couch.
- Electoral culture of youth: Essence and problems.
- Describe modern parliamentarism and the future of elections in the contemporary world.
- Analyze the consequences of evading the electoral choice of power.
- Experience in statistical analysis of electoral anomalies.
- Write about the electoral system as a political and legal institution.
- How are regional electoral processes monitored in the United States?
- Transparent elections as tools for repairing democracy in the modern world.
🤔 Criticism of Democracy Research Topics
- Study the problems of modern democracy in third-world countries.
- Plato’s critique of democracy.
- Democracy is the best of all bad forms of government.
- What do we talk about when we talk about democracy?
- Examine the main mistake in discussions about democracy.
- Study the fallacy of the concept of democratic government.
- An evolutionary approach to modern democracy.
- Explain the paradox of liberal democracy in the contemporary world.
- Criticism of democracy in political theory.
- Write about the critics of Athenian democracy and the problem of objectivity.
- Democracy as a subject of constitutional law: Main contradictions.
- Why are more and more people dissatisfied with democracy in America?
- Paradoxes of democracy: Why is it unrealizable?
- Nationalism as a threat to democracy.
- Do democratic systems encourage short-term decision-making and populist policies to win immediate voter support?
- Discuss the theory of democratic peace and its criticism.
- Criticism of democracy without politics.
- Explore the liberal criticism of democracy and the problem of public authority.
- Explain how the interests of minority groups or individuals are neglected in democracies.
- Anarchist criticism of democracy: Did democracy fail?
- Does the modern man even need democracy?
- Describe the problems and contradictions of democracy’s formation in developing countries.
- Marxist critique of democracies today.
- Write about polity as the best form of government, according to Aristotle.
- Discuss the formality of modern democracy.
- Confrontation of values: Why doesn’t democracy take root in societies with traditional values?
- Democracy as an instrument of population control.
- Voter apathy and low voter turnout in democratic elections.
- Democracy and human rights in the OSCE region.
- Criticism of democracy in Plato: Ontological aspect.
- Is democracy the greatest deception of the age?
- The hateful mirror of modernity: The dangers of false democracy.
- Does democracy lack sufficient mechanisms for holding elected officials accountable?
- Why will democracy never defeat capitalism in America?
- Democracy lacks long-term planning and sustainable development.
- Democracy may fail to provide adequate representation for marginalized groups.
- Examine the prospects and issues of the European model of democracy.
- How can democracy be manipulated by charismatic leaders who exploit public emotions to gain power?
- The problem of democracy in the current American political environment.
- Discuss the issues of e-democracy in the contemporary world.
- Democracy as a problem of political thought in the countries of the Middle East.
- Is democracy ready to prove itself when authoritarianism knocks on the door?
- The crisis of democracy in the digital age.
- Democracy allows for the possibility of majority ignorance and irrationality.
- Analyze the continuity and issues of democracy in Nigeria.
- Problems of democracy in the conditions of economic globalization.
- The potential for majority rule in democracy to trample on the rights and interests of minority groups.
- Study Jason Brennan’s criticism of democracy.
- Can democracy be a cause of political instability?
- Gridlock and political polarization: Does democracy make reaching a consensus or enacting meaningful reforms difficult?