Conversation so far:
where did the idea of democracy as a form of government originate
The term democracy appeared in the 5th century BC to denote the political systems then existing in Greek city-states, notably Athens
what does the term democracy mean?
Greek: dēmokratía, literally rule by people“
what is the basic idea of democracy?
a system of government where most or all people have rights to equal constitutional participation

Question: how many types are there?
Self-contained rewrite: how many types of democracy are there?