What's "Democracy"?

With the world's largest democracy going to the polls this month, I wanted to know where India stands in terms of a Democracy Index. May be the biggest, but is it the best?

I found several interesting references and agencies that watched Democracies around the world. The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy index is based on five measures: electoral

process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation and 

political culture. Countries are placed within one of four types of regimes based on this Democracy Index: full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes and authoritarian regimes. The full report is at http://pages.eiu.com/rs/eiu2/images/Democracy-Index-2012.pdf. If you don't have time for the full report, take 3 minutes to read the significance of these 5 measures of democracy as per EIU on Page 26. Is it the responsibility of the political class or the government to deliver a fully functional democracy or are the masses equally responsible for the 54 flawed democracies as measured in 2012? What is the role of the people in making a democracy stronger? What are my responsibilities as a voter after the voting is over? Do I have any rights?

I invite friends to share inspiring stories from the world over on how PEOPLE's participation built powerful democracies in their countries or states. What makes Norway No. 1? May be there are lessons to be learnt for the world's largest democracy, India (Ranked 38 in 2012).