n several essays I will examine the idea of democracy, a widely but imprecisely understood concept in Ethiopian political discourse. I should like contribute toward a modest understanding of a favorite idea. I will argue that at the minimum one can develop four kinds of democracy, which I call classical democracy, modern democracy, contempo- rary democracy and radical democracy. The first three are intertwined phases of democracy The last one has yet to be theorized, as I modestly attempt in this year long Democracy Project, as I wish to call it.