The leaders of a democracy are chosen by fair elections.  While all democracies elect leaders, you may not know that the process for electing leaders is different in different democratic countries. 

For instance, the United States is a republic or a "representative democracy".  This means we elect people to represent us in the different bodies of government.  We vote on who will represent us in the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives and as President. 

In the United Kingdom, citizens elect their members of parliament and then the political party with the most members of parliament selects the Prime Minister.  The Prime Minister in the United Kingdom is like the President in the United States, but there is also a Monarch – a King or a Queen who shares in ruling the country. 

In 2000, it was estimated that there were about 120 democracies in the world -- 63% of the world’s countries were democracies. 

To learn more about democracy, visit the Wikipedia page on Democracy.