Democracy is difficult to define these days because all governments want to be called democratic. However, democracy is a system in which the government is under the control of citizens that is why it is defined as a government of the people by the people and for the people. In ancient Greece there was participatory democracy; one in which every adult male citizen participated in government, and participate in the administrative life of society

 The populations and area of modern states are too large for all citizens to assemble at one place to discuss about their welfare as a nation. Secondly, government work has become specialized that full time professional administrators are now needed. Modern democracy is a system which gives citizens a maximum personal freedom and also periodic opportunities to choose their leaders.
This suggests the existence of different political parties and groups, an electoral process and free and fair compaction among these groups for endorsement by the ledgers through the franchise, which adult citizens have.
I believe in a democratic state there should be a multiparty system where more than one political parity or individual contending for power and to contest in elections be open; elections conducted in free and fair atmosphere without any attempt to victimize anybody.
In a real democracy there is universal adult suffrage, in which adult citizens have the right to vote in elections where fundamental freedoms are respected - civil liberties, freedom of speech, religion, freedom of association, freedom of movement, freedom from arbitrary arrest, independent the mass media - radios, newspapers and television are independent.
Groups and associations are able to operate as pressure groups or interest groups like the farmers union, with rights to choose their own candidates or support political parties without prosecution. Candidates can canvass for support based on their programmes. There should be separation of power and checks and balances.  The representative assemblies have the power to scrutinize the executive. The judiciary is free and independent of the other branches of government. Decisions are arrived at by majority. In other words, in any debate representatives should have their say, the final decision is based on what the majority desires. Hence we often say government is by majority in which the rights of the minority are recognized and the minority can freely campaign to become tomorrow’s majority.
The standards of this kind of system called democracy should be nurtured and no amount of brain washing should allow us to deviate from its best practices if we want to progress as Africans. Other pessimists believe that democracy is not for Africa because it is alien to our culture as a people. But want is important to know is that most of all what is developed in the West today started in Africa. Those who know the story of Tiro of ancient Egypt as the first man to write in short hand and taught Europeans how to write. Africa also had a university in Timbuktu called Sankore University before the invasion of Timbuktu by Morocco. This shows that Africans are not savages they have been civilized long ago.

There is nothing wrong with taking a good thing from a system and amalgamate it in our African system. The Presidential position in modern democracy has not killed the position of Alkalolu (village heads) and Seyfolu (district chiefs) in The Gambia and other parts of Africa. Traditional leadership still exists in Africa.