Within the broader category of political regimes, democratic systems exhibit significant internal variation. The classification of democratic regimes often hinges on the specific mechanisms of representation, power distribution, and citizen involvement. An electoral democracy is considered the most basic form, characterized by the presence of regular, free, and fair elections for choosing political leaders, but it may lack robust protections for civil liberties. Advancing beyond this is liberal democracy, which combines electoral competition with a firm constitutional framework that guarantees the rule of law, protects individual and minority rights, and ensures checks and balances on government power. Another variant is majoritarian democracy, which concentrates political power in the hands of the winning party or coalition. In this model, the executive tends to dominate the legislature, and there are fewer institutional checks on the power of the majority, operating on the principle of winner-takes-all. In contrast, participatory democracy critiques the limited nature of representative democracy and advocates for more direct and continuous citizen involvement in decision-making processes. This form emphasizes mechanisms such as referendums, citizen assemblies, and grassroots initiatives to ensure that governance is not just for the people but actively by the people, extending democratic principles beyond the periodic act of voting into various spheres of social and economic life.