What is Representative Democracy?

Information about Representative Democracy

Democracy
This series is part of
the Politics and the
Forms of government series
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Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principles of popular sovereignty by the people's representatives. The representatives form an independent ruling body (for an election period) charged with the responsibility of acting in the people's interest, but not as their proxy representatives—i.e., not necessarily always according to their wishes, but with enough authority to exercise swift and resolute initiative in the face of changing circumstances. It is often contrasted with direct democracy, where representatives are absent or are limited in power as proxy representatives.

The representatives are chosen by the majority of the voters (as opposed to the majority of the population/eligible voters) in elections. This is known as 'Plurality'. While existing representative democracies hold such elections to choose representatives, in theory other methods, such as sortition (more closely aligned with direct democracy), could be used instead. Also, representatives sometimes hold the power to select other representatives, presidents, or other officers of government (indirect representation).

A representative democracy that also protects liberties is called a liberal democracy. One that does not is an illiberal democracy. There is no necessity that individual liberties are respected in a representative democracy. For example, the Communist states were technically representative democracies who regularly held elections.

Today, in liberal democracies, representatives are usually elected in free, secret-ballot, multi-party elections. The power of representatives in a liberal democracy is usually curtailed by a constitution (as in a constitutional republic or a constitutional monarchy) or other measures to balance representative power: The term republic may have many different meanings. Today, it often simply means a state with an elected head of state, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran or the former German Democratic Republic. It may also have a meaning similar to liberal democracy. For example, "the United States relies on representative democracy, but [its] system of government is much more complex than that. [It is] not a simple representative democracy, but a constitutional republic in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law.(Scheb, John M. An Introduction to the American Legal System. Thomson Delmar Learning 2001. p. 6)

Literature

  • Hans Köchler, The Crisis of Representative Democracy. Frankfurt a.M./Berne/New York: Peter Lang, 1987 ISBN 3-8204-8843-X

External links

Democracy describes small number of related forms of government. The fundamental feature is competitive elections. Competitive elections are usually seen to require freedom of speech (especially in political affairs), freedom of the press, and some degree of rule of law.
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Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. Although the term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, politics is observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious
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form of government is a term that refers to the set of political institutions by which a state is organized in order to exert its powers over a political community.[1] Synonyms include "regime type" and "system of government".
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Democracy describes small number of related forms of government. The fundamental feature is competitive elections. Competitive elections are usually seen to require freedom of speech (especially in political affairs), freedom of the press, and some degree of rule of law.
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The history of democracy traces back from its origins in ancient world to its re-emergence and rise from the 17th century to the present day.

Origins

Ancient Mesopotamia


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Here is a partial list of varieties of democracy. The types of democracy listed here are not mutually exclusive.

Direct democracy

Main article: Direct democracy

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*Democracy, a broad article on democracy, especially its application in modernity.
  • Anticipatory democracy, which relies on some degree of disciplined and usually market-informed anticipation of the future, to guide major decisions.

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Anticipatory democracy is a theory of civics relying on democratic decision making that takes into account predictions of future events that have some credibility with the electorate. It closely resembles the civic ideal of technocracy.
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Athenian democracy (sometimes called Direct democracy) developed in the Greek city-state of Athens. (comprising the central city-state of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica).
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This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.
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Direct Democracy is a movement within the British Conservative Party dedicated to localism and constitutional reform. The group published a book on democracy, titled , authored by prominent Conservative politicians, to promote their ideas.
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Technically speaking, an illiberal democracy could be any democracy that is not a liberal democracy.
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Liberal democracy is a form of government. It is a representative democracy in which the ability of the elected representatives to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law, and usually moderated by a constitution that emphasizes the protection of the
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Non-partisan democracy (also no-party democracy) is a system of representative government or organization such that universal and periodic elections take place without reference to political parties.
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Participatory democracy is a process emphasizing the broad participation (decision making) of constituents in the direction and operation of political systems. While etymological roots imply that any democracy would rely on the participation of its citizens (the Greek
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A republican democracy is a republic which has democratic forms of government. A republic in the modern understanding is a nation or state where the people are sovereign. It is not a monarchy, where the king or queen is the head of state.
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Social democracy is a political ideology that emerged in the late 19th century out of the socialist movement.[1] Modern social democracy is unlike socialism in the strict sense which aims to end the predominance of the capitalist system, or in the Marxist sense
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Soviet democracy or sometimes council democracy is a form of democracy in which workers' councils called "soviets" consisting of worker-elected delegates form organs of power. The soviets begin at the local level and onto a national parliament-like assembly.
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Demarchy is a term that describes a political system based on randomly selected groups of decision makers, also known as sortition. Demarchy attempts to achieve democratic representation without needing elections—it has been referred to as "democracy without elections.
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Popular sovereignty is the belief that the state is created by and therefore subject to the will of its people, who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated to the social contract philosophers, among whom are Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
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authority (Latin auctoritas, used in Roman law as opposed to potestas and imperium) is often used interchangeably with the term "power". However, their meanings differ: while "power" refers to the ability to achieve certain ends, "authority" refers to the
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Direct Democracy is a movement within the British Conservative Party dedicated to localism and constitutional reform. The group published a book on democracy, titled , authored by prominent Conservative politicians, to promote their ideas.
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An election is a decision making process where people choose people to hold official offices. This is the usual mechanism by which modern democracy fills offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government.
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Sortition (also known as allotment) is a fair method of selection by some form of lottery such as drawing coloured pebbles from a bag. It is used particularly to allot decision makers.
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Freedom
By concept
Philosophical freedom Political freedom Liberty
By form
Assembly Association Body: clothing, modifying From government Movement Press Religion and beliefs Speech & expression Thought
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Liberal democracy is a form of government. It is a representative democracy in which the ability of the elected representatives to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law, and usually moderated by a constitution that emphasizes the protection of the
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Technically speaking, an illiberal democracy could be any democracy that is not a liberal democracy.
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communism as a form of society, as an ideology advocating that form of society, or as a popular movement, see the communism article.


Communism
Basic concepts
Marxist philosophy
Class struggle
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multi-party system is a system in which three or more political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition.

Unlike a single-party system (or a non-partisan democracy), it encourages the general constituency to form multiple distinct,
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