民主主义 refers to democracy as a political ideology or doctrine (the -ism), distinct from 民主 which more often denotes the system or practice itself. In Chinese political discourse, 民主主义 is used when emphasizing the theoretical or doctrinal aspect, especially in historical contexts like 新民主主义 (New Democracy). It is a loanword from Japanese (民主主義) and carries the same conceptual weight as 'democracy' in English, but with the suffix 主义 marking it as an ism.