Not Quite A Democracy

Polyarchy (Greek: poly many, arkhe rule) has long been used to mean the opposite of monarchy, i.e., a government where ultimate authority rest with more than one person.[1] In modern political science, the term polyarchy was introduced by Robert A. Dahl to describe a political structure that was first implemented in the United States and gradually adopted by many other countries espcially in Western Europe. This structure is one in which there are several groups competing for political power and a large part of the population of the country selects, through elections, which group shall have ruling power for a set period.
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyarchy