Your assignment is just to spout off 10 arbitrary requirements to achieve democracy?

What a ridiculous essay question.

There are any number of things that people generally agree are important for democracy to thrive but there's no magical check list. It's also a lot more than 10 things, and all of them will have caveats and exceptions that basically come down to "this is important, except in those countries where it isn't."

Peace and security, strong civil society, egalitarian outlook both socially and economically, degree of social mobility, free press, national institutions acceptable to democratic control, independence of the judiciary, a constitutional framework to meet the needs of stakeholders, peaceful neighbors, desire for democracy, no strong ethnic or religious conflict, checks and balances that prevent the agglomeration of power to one man or party, independence from foreign interference, transparency and oversight of the electoral process...it could go on forever.

I'm sure there are more scientific sociological studies, but Tocqueville's Democracy in America is still a seminal work in describing how civil society works in a successful democracy and the kinds of cultural attitudes that lead to that society. It's also easy to read.