representative democracy

Examples of representative democracy in the following topics:

• 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

• Types of Governments

  • In political theory, democracy describes a small number of related forms of government and also a political philosophy.
  • Even though there is no universally accepted definition of 'democracy', there are two principles that any definition of democracy includes.
  • However, if any democracy is not carefully legislated to avoid an uneven distribution of political power with balances, such as the separation of powers, then a branch of the system of rule could accumulate power and become harmful to the democracy itself.
  • An essential process in representative democracies are competitive elections, that are fair both substantively and procedurally.
  • In most Communist states, governments assert that they represent the democratic dictatorship of the proletariat.

• 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.

• Types of States

  • Under this system, governments fall into general categories of authoritarianism, oligarchy, and democracy.
  • An oligarchy is different from a true democracy because very few people are given the chance to change things.
  • Blue represents full presidential republics, while green and yellow are presidential republics with less powerful presidents.
  • Orange represents parliamentary republics.
  • Red and pink are parliamentary constitutional monarchies, and purple represents absolute monarchies.

• Democracy in the U.S.

  • Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives.