Many ordinary people concur with this idea that democracy is a morally better way to be governed the words on the banners in Tahrir Square, Egypt or on the placard outside Aung San Suu Kyi's house in Burma, or indeed on the Plazas of Buenos Aires were: Liberty! Human Rights! Justice! Freedom! Equality! Elections Now! Here ordinary people are expressing their desire to be treated with fairness, respect, equality and care by those who make decisions about society (Grugel 2002). They assert the power of people in society to have a say in their country's future and their own. For many people, democracy is not just about a series of elections, institutions and rules; it is a way of life based on mutual respect and the capacity to be a political agent (not a powerless subject). This democratic idealism is a potent political force but to what extent can the liberal democracy advocated by the USA and the World Bank really channels those ideals? Are there other models for a democratic society? Looking behind the glossy assumptions of liberal democracy, and thinking about different perspectives on democracy is one of the key aims of this chapter. Argentina. I am not We are going to explore democracy through the example of the relationship going to explain the institutional set up there the electoral system, are plenty between president, congress and the judiciary, the Constitution, etc. There of excellent books which explore these issues more generally and others which explore Argentina's political institutions (O'Toole 2007; Foweraker et al. 2003). Rather, I want to focus on two aspects. First, I will show through the example of Argentina some of the ways in which electoral democracy is embedded in society its inequalities, norms and cultural expectations. Second, I want to illustrate the importance of democratic dynamics outside the electoral sphere, and particularly in social movements and community organizations. I will draw on three examples in order to make my points these are: Peronism (a study of populism and emotion in politics), the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (exploring the role of social movements and the issue of human rights) and the crisis of representation in 2001 (examining the rejection of representative democracy and grassroots organizing). I will look at some of the general responses to the question of democracy in the second section of the chapter, which examines and questions the way elections are seen as central and equality assumed. I will then go on to ask deeper, broader questions about the nature of 'actually existing' democracy, asking where the idea came from in time (history) and space (geography) and what impact the history of thinking about democracy has on the way that study democracies today. I will end by returning to we the question of democracy's "goodness', setting out some ways to start thinking differently that might help you to ask more critical questions of the democracies which you study.