Write an article on the most essential characteristics of a democracy Paper must be at least 1750 words. Secondly, democracy should rest on majority rule and individual rights, protection of basic human rights like freedom of speech, religion, conducting free and fair elections where the citizens have the right to participate.In the sovereign rule, the highest authority rests with the people. however, in other forms of governments, namely authoritarianism and communism, the sovereign power lies on some individuals or a small group of people in the society (Woolfe & Rawcliffe, 2005 p.4). Moreover, there are many requirements that a nation must meet to be defined as a democratic nation. This paper explores the nations of North Korea and Burma as nations that do not meet the basic characteristics of a democratic nation. The nations do not have a clear process of elections, as one is a monarchy while the other is governed by the military. In addition, the human rights records of both countries are not good, while the ruling elite of the two countries views their system as democratic but by the characteristics of democracy, they are far off.Burma, a nation in the Asia Pacific, has a limited level of democracy. It is under military juntas – the State Development and peace council (SDPC) rule have, for a very long time, been involved in repressive acts. and human rights are not observed among other oppression. For instance, the key opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi of the National League for Democracy has been under house arrest for a long time. In addition, Burma has not conducted parliamentary elections since 1990. however, the nation the ruling military junta endorsed a new constitution in 2008 that was passed in a referendum which is seen as fraudulent by many (Martin, 2010, p.1).In the 1990 parliamentary elections, the National League for Democracy won the elections but the military turned them down (Congress, 2010, p.14486). In addition, the juntas set up laws that would limit registration, organization, and operations of political parties.