What term describes a system of government by the people, usually through elected representatives?

• A. Democracy
• B. Monarchy
• C. Oligarchy
• D. Republic

Answer: (A)

This question tests the idea of who holds power in a government and how they exercise it through the people’s consent. Democracy describes a system where the people have the authority to govern, typically by choosing representatives who make laws and run government through elections. That element—rule by the people and governance carried out through elected representatives—fits the prompt precisely.

A monarchy is rule by a king or queen, often hereditary, and doesn’t center on governance by the people through elections. An oligarchy is rule by a small, privileged group. A republic is a form of government where the country is governed by elected representatives and leaders are not monarchs, but the phrase “government by the people, usually through elected representatives” most directly captures the everyday idea of democracy as the people’s own power exercised through their choices in elections.