Direct Democracy vs Representative Democracy
The term Democracy is derived from two Greek words, demos, meaning
people, and kratos, meaning rule. These two words form the word democracy which
means rule by the people. Aristotle, and other ancient Greek political
philosophers, used the phrase, `the governors are to be the governed', or as we
have come to know it, `rule and be ruled in turn'.
The two major types of democracy are Representative Democracy and Direct
Democracy. Clearly the arguments for and against each form of democracy are
plentiful. However, it is my belief that theoretically, Direct Democracy is the
superior form of political rule. Due to problems with in the direct democratic
system, its use as a practical form of government is not even thinkable.
Therefore, in order for any form of democracy to function, Representative
Democracy is the superior form of political rule.
Jean Jacques Rousseau is considered by many to be the `Grandfather' of
direct democracy theory. Rousseau's ideal society would be where the
citizens were directly involved in the creation of the laws which are to govern
their lives. He maintained that, "all citizens should meet together and decide
what is best for the community and enact the appropriate laws. Any law which
was not directly created by the citizens is not valid, and if those laws are
imposed on people, that is equivalent to the people being enslaved.
The citizens of a society must both develop and obey...
Right from the beginning of it’s creation the constitution of the United States has been a shaky document. The very basis for it being there was in fact illegal.
There is a fundamental difference between a democracy and a republic as it concerned the political entitlement of the citizenry. The citizens of a republic do not participate directly with governmental affairs. The citizens of a republic can however have a say in who does participate. The Roman republic has two prefect systems to prevent dictatorship which didn’t work.
Rousseau, however, believed, “the general will by definition is always right and always works to the community’s advantage. True freedom consists of obedience to laws that coincide with the general will.”(72) So in this aspect Rousseau almost goes to the far extreme dictatorship as the way to make a happy society which he shows in saying he, “..rejects entirely the Lockean principle that citizens possess rights independently of and against the state.”(72)
America's Democracy The United States of America is a republic, or representative democracy. Democracy, a word that comes to us from Greek, literally means the people rule (Romance, July 8). This broad definition leaves unanswered a few important details such as who are the people, how shall they rule, and what should they rule on (July 8). Defining the answers to those questions means defining a model for a democratic system.
Britain is considering changing current first past the post voting system (FPTP) to proportional representation (PR). The main reason is that FPTP is “quasi-democratic” voting system under which there is only one majority party ruling the government and it does not represent wishes of all voters as some votes are wasted. Whereas, PR seems to be the best alternative voting system with proportionality of seats in mandatory places, more parties ruling government and etc. Let us look at these two voting systems and analyze whether PR is suitable and alternative change for FPTP and do advantages of PR outweigh disadvantages.
The United States government could be described as a representative democracy. This form of government puts power in the people’s hands by letting them vote for their representatives. United States citizens vote on presidents, congress members, etc., which allows some power to be placed in the hands of every citizen. A representative democracy allows us to have a say in who represents our beliefs, values, and standards for the country. As stated in How Congress Works, a representative democracy is a way “in which the people would choose elected representatives to carry their voices to Washington.”
Athens was located on the Western Europe specifically it’s one of the city on Greece. It was the first birth of democracy and also it was the home of education, that’s included Philosophy, Artists and so many scientists were appeared in Athens. In this city there were so many government came out, but none of them didn’t satisfy what the Athenian people wanted, except one king was called Pericles. He was the first leader who proposed democracy and made Athens glorious by different directions, those were by their military, economy and by other things. The important thing why we learned about Athenian history is their astonishing change in the Western Europe . That means they were super smart in Architecture, artist and so many scientist were appeared. When we see their Architecture they built an amazing and unique, even in the present time when people built houses they used the design of Athens, some of them are, White house. In addition we use Democracy, when we get get back Athenian history, they started the first direct Democracy, but the difference between the present Democracy and Athenian Democracy is modernization. Because all countries in the world used representative Democracy( A type of Democracy that people choose one representative to do things like them) we called it modern Democracy, but in the other side the Athenian used direct democracy ( A type of Democracy that people vote or discussed directly). so, out base or starter was Athens.
...ion with the general will. This may sound like a contradiction but, to Rousseau, the only way the body politic can function is by pursuing maximum cohesion of peoples while seeking maximum individuation. For Rousseau, like Marx, the solution to servitude is, in essence, the community itself.
According to Przeworski, the fundamental difference between democracy and dictatorship is that in democracy, leaders are selected through competitive elections. While there exists this fundamental difference between democracy and dictatorship, democracy has also been proved to be related to the state of economic development. According to evidence presented by Seymour Lipset, economic development is much higher for the more democratic countries compared to those characterized as ‘less democratic’ or authoritarian. Although the fundamental difference between democracy and dictatorship that Przeworski presents is competitive elections,
Citizens living in all non-democratic regimes should push for the immediate establishment of democracy in their country.
Several forms of government have been formed since the development of centralized power. The form of government that has showed the most international growth in the last century is democracy. There are currently over 160 democracies in the world today. These democracies, however, are not complete democracies. They are representative democracies that have been created by the leaders of our predominantly patriarchal international system. Due to this, many citizens of these democracies are considered second class citizens and their views are not heard by their supposedly democratic society. A solution to this problem is participatory democracy. Participatory democracy is better than the existing patriarchal society because it allows the progression of society as a whole, eliminates political oppression, and creates a predominantly equal political culture for the citizens it governs. There is much evidence that proves that the advantages of participatory democracy heavily outweigh the drawbacks and that it is a better way of government than patriarchy. This evidence can be found in historical analysis, scrutiny of the patriarchal international system, the development of participatory democracy, and the values of a participatory democracy versus the values of a patriarchal democracy.
knowledge; it still gives the citizens the opportunity to vote actually even William E. Hudson pointed this out in the book which I would like to reference “to the pluralist, elections provide an opportunity for even apathetic and passive citizens to choose their political leaders” (14). But now if we are going to speak on why many citizens are apathetic we must look at this from another form of democracy, which is the participatory democracy model. The next model of democracy I would like to speak about is much different from the rest, although many of these forms of democracy are similar and share similar ideas, this one may be very different, but also the same depending on how you look at this form of democracy.
Communism is an original system of society, quite different from Democracy in many ways. While total democracy is not widely spread, many forms of it are prosperous throughout the world today.
One of the main arguments presented by Crick in In Defence of Politics is that politics is a realistic good necessary for well-organized governance. From my experiences in the field, I understand that democracy allows for differing interests and views to be heard in a diplomatic manner. While democracy elicits diverging ideas and opinions for people, citizens in a democratic state still understand their interests are often served through democratic values and equal representation in government affairs. Political representatives must be accountable to the masses for their actions and decisions in order for the rule of law to be obligatory. Democracy does not discriminate against ideology or party affiliation. During my internship, constituents with varying party affiliations voiced their concerns and opinions in regards to legislation either presented by the Assemblyman or presented in the State Assembly.
James Madison along with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay wrote the Federalist papers. The Federalist papers draft and are the framework for the governmental design for the states and why this government was the ideal way to govern the United States of America. The Federalist No. X and the Federalist No. LI analyze why the government was designed that way and how the government must work in order to perform a job in unison with the public. In the Federalist No. X Madison explains the reason behind the structure of the government, that is human nature, factions and the unequal distribution of property. While in the Federalist No. LI Hamilton and Madison come together to define the structure of the government and why it works with the control