representative democracy

Examples of representative democracy in the following topics:

• Democratic Governments

  • According to World Forum on Democracy, electoral democracies now represent 120 of the 192 existing countries and constitute 58.2 percent of the world's population.
  • This is different from a representative democracy, in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives.
  • As a result, they advocated a representative democracy in the form of a constitutional republic over a direct democracy.
  • Representative democracy is a variety of democracy founded on the principle of elected people representing a group of people.
  • For example, three countries which use representative democracy are the United States of America (a representative democracy), the United Kingdom (a constitutional monarchy) and Poland (a republic).

• Democracy

  • The other form is representative democracy, where the whole body of citizens remain the sovereign power but political power is exercised indirectly through elected representatives.
  • Most modern democracies are representative democracies, the concept of which arose largely from ideas and institutions that developed during the European Middle Ages, the Enlightenment, and the American and French Revolutions.
  • Another essential part of an "ideal" representative democracy is competitive elections that are fair both substantively and procedurally.
  • By contrast, a parliamentary democracy is a representative democracy where government is appointed by, or can be dismissed by, representatives as opposed to a 'presidential rule' wherein the President is both head of state and the head of government and is elected by the voters.
  • Some modern democracies that are predominately representative in nature also heavily rely upon forms of political action that are directly democratic.

• Democracy v. Republicanism

  • As such, they favored a representative democracy over a direct democracy.
  • In a direct democracy, people vote on policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives.
  • They also set up a House of Representatives to represent the people.
  • Direct democracy is a form of democracy in which people vote on policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives.
  • As a result, they advocated a representative democracy in the form of a constitutional republic over a direct democracy.

• Democracy

  • In a representative democracy, every vote has equal weight, no unreasonable restrictions can apply to anyone seeking to become a representative, and the freedom of its citizens is secured by legitimized rights and liberties which are generally protected by a constitution.
  • Elements of direct democracy exist on a local level and in exceptions on the national level in many countries, although these systems coexist with representative assemblies.
  • The concept of representative democracy arose largely from ideas and institutions that developed during the European Middle Ages and the Age of Enlightenment and in the American and French Revolutions.
  • For example, in a representative democracy, every vote has equal weight, no unreasonable restrictions can apply to anyone seeking to become a representative, and the freedom of its citizens is secured by legitimized rights and liberties which are generally protected by a constitution.
  • An essential part of an ideal representative democracy is competitive elections that are fair both substantively and procedurally.

• The U.S. Political System

  • The United States is a representative federal democracy driven by elections in which citizens' and lobbyists' diverse interests compete.
  • The United States is a representative democracy.
  • Citizens elect representatives to national, state, and local government; those representatives create the laws that govern U.S. society.
  • At times, this influence has grown so noticeable that some have called into question whether the U.S. is truly a democracy of the people or something more like an oligarchy of special interest groups.

• Democracy

  • The United States is an example of a representative democracy.
  • Citizens over the age of 18 may vote in elections to choose their representatives.
  • Those representatives serve in local, state, and national governments.
  • An essential process in representative democracies is competitive elections that are fair both substantively and procedurally.
  • But in reality, in most democracies, citizens are represented by elected lawmakers charged with drafting and voting on laws.

• The Spread of Liberal Democracy

  • The United States, Canada, France, and other Western countries are examples of liberal democracies.
  • Liberal democracy is a common form of representative democracy.
  • Liberal democracies also usually have universal suffrage, granting all adult citizens the right to vote.
  • Reforms and revolutions helped move most European countries towards liberal democracy.
  • Defend the notion of liberal democracy using examples from its enlightenment origins

• Participatory Democracy

  • Through this process, laws can be made by direct vote rather than by elected representatives in a legislature.
  • The etymological roots of democracy (Greek demos and kratos) imply that the people are in power and, thus, that all democracies are participatory.
  • However, participatory democracy tends to advocate more involved forms of citizen participation than traditional representative democracy.
  • Participatory democracy has been a feature of human society since at least classical times.
  • Political variants of participatory democracy include consensus democracy, deliberative democracy, demarchy, and grassroots democracy.

• Theories of Democracy

  • The most common system that is deemed democratic in the modern world is parliamentary democracy, in which the voting public takes part in elections and chooses politicians to represent them in a legislative assembly.
  • Elements of direct democracy exist on a local level and, in exceptions, on the national level in many countries, though these systems coexist with representative assemblies.
  • Direct democracy, on the other hand, holds that citizens should participate directly in making laws and policies, and not do so through their representatives.
  • Deliberative democracy is based on the notion that democracy is government by discussion.
  • Distinguish between parliamentary democracy, minimal democracy, direct democracy, radical democracy and deliberative democracy, and relate them to the concept of "true" democracy and freedom

• Democratic Socialism

  • Democratic socialism combines the political philosophy of democracy with the economic philosophy of socialism.
  • Democratic socialism combines the political philosophy of democracy with the economic philosophy of socialism.
  • Rather than focus on central planning, democratic socialism advocates the immediate creation of decentralized economic democracy from the grassroots level—undertaken by and for the working class itself.
  • The term has also been used by various historians to describe the ideal of economic socialism in an established political democracy.
  • In Britain, the democratic socialist tradition was represented historically by William Morris's Socialist League and, in the 1880s, by the Fabian Society.