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Direct democracy v representative democracy
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Topic
What is the core concept of democracy and what can you possibly hope to attain from a democratic government?
Introduction
Democracy, the political system that is the most recognized and ideally used all around the world. A democratic government is formed in order to help the people and give them more rights. In ancient times, often citizens of a small town or a city would gather together, and vote as a whole on decisions that will benefit for all. This form of government is known as a direct democracy. In the world where we currently live in, communities are much more over populated and it is just too complex to host for a gathering to make decisions. Hence, our modern society uses a form of democracy known as the representative democracy
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These two democratic forms of government are the most used to demonstrate the key concept of ideal democracy. The aim of having a democratic government is to achieve equality and have equal rights to vote. However, the democratic government is still facing many challenges that limits individuals in many aspects. Democracy is still struggling to accomplish in having the right to vote for certain ethnicity, women, race, religion, and other factors that may be taken account to. Tax systems are proposed directly for achieving economic equality, resulting in large gaps for income tax rate. Whereas, the poor in poverty might pay absolutely no tax or as little as one dollar, while the wealthier person has to pay 25-33% of his/her income towards the contribution. Having said, a democratic government allows all of the people to vote, nevertheless, if your opinion and beliefs differs from the majority, your voice will not be heard. In this essay, I will thoroughly analyze what exactly is democracy and what it means to have a democratic government. I will then contend to derive all of the barriers which limits opinion and …show more content…
Gradually, it was transformed followed in favour of the people and is now known as the representative democracy. Based on the fundamental systems of the direct and the representative democracy, there are three more known democratic systems that was developed and are commonly in use by the people. First, the govern of the liberal democracy, a “version of representative democracy that developed in modern Western societies” (198) which combines the idea of liberalism “with a democratic system of governing based on the election of representatives” (198). This type of democratic system believes in having greater amount of rights and freedom in individuals and establishes laws that limits the actions of the government to avoid the abuse of authorities. This practice of system is currently in use by countries such as Canada, Mexico, and also Asian countries like South Korea. Next, the democratic system with even more superior amount of control within the citizens is referred as the plebiscitary democracy. This type of political system can be related to “populism” which is a view that allows the exercise of giving the citizens full control rather than trusting their decisions on behalf on the representatives. Moreover, plebiscitary democracy believes that the representatives tend to pursue their own career opportunities and additional interests more than the people’s. Thus, prevention
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary Democracy is a form of government by the people; especially: rule of the majority(Webster). This is what the United States is represented as, and this is based on the United States Constitution from which the United states draws all legal powers. In Robert Dahls book How democratic Is the American Constitution? He challenges this idea by trying to appeal to his readers in a way that they may view the United States Constitution in a different light. Dahl does this by pointing out flaws that the Constitution has and, draws on facts based on the other democracies around the world that the United States is compared too. He points out how many democratic ideas and innovations have a occurred since the conception of the American Constitution yet it has only adopted some of those idea.
Democracy is the structure of government still used today in many countries.The definition of democracy is a system of government where people who rule directly are freely elected representatives.In addition, democracy comes from the Greek word demokratia. Demo meaning people and kratia meaning power of rule. For instance, here is an example, Great Britain has a democratic government since elected officials and laws are voted on by the people and also the representatives they elect. Therefore Athens exemplifies a democratic government. “Athenians would meet and vote on a simple question …. is anyone becoming a threat to democracy? If a simple majority voted yes,then they dispersed and reassembled two months later,
Democracy is a system where society takes control of voting and chooses presidents to their liking; voting was based on the people’s interests. The Missouri Compromise, the Corrupt Bargain, and the Spoils System were all conferring factors in the rise of democracy. Democracy became a way for people to vote for their best interest.
What is democracy? Democracy is a form of government in which the power is vested in the people. What exactly does that mean? It means that the people have the power to vote government officials into office; it means that the majority rules; it means that everyone is entitled to freedom and equality. Although many people would agree that democracy is the greatest concept man ever created, the sad truth is that democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government because of the inevitable cycle that, for the most part, always results in tyranny.
A memorable expression said by President Abraham Lincoln reads, “Democracy is government of the people, by the people, and for the people”. Democracy, is a derived from the Greek term "demos" which means people. It is a successful, system of government that vests power to the public or majority. Adopted by the United States in 1776, a democratic government has six basic characteristics: (i) established/elected sovereignty (where power and civic responsibility are exercised either directly by the public or their freely agreed elected representative(s)), (ii) majority rule(vs minority), (iii) (protects one’s own and reside with) human rights, (iv) regular free and fair elections to citizens (upon a certain age), (v) responsibility of
Direct democracy means forms of direct participation of citizens in democratic decision making in contrast to indirect or representative democracy, based on the sovereignty of the people. This can happen in the form of an assembly democracy or by initiative and referendum with ballot voting, with direct voting on issues instead of for candidates or parties. Sometimes the term is also used for electing representatives in a direct vote as opposed to indirect elections (by voting for an electing body, electoral college, etc.), as well as for recalling elected officeholders. Direct democracy may be understood as a full-scale system of political institutions, but in modern times, it means most often specific decision-making institutions in the broader
What is democracy? Democracy is a type of method used to manage the government (Dewey, 1978, p. 288). In a democratic government, the people hold the power. Power can either be exercised by the people or through elected representatives. According to Muck (2016) “democracy is a synthesis of political freedom and political equality”.
Democracy is a form of government that the United States of America acts on. The definition of democracy is rather simple, according to the author Harrison “Democracy is a Greek word meaning ‘rule by the people’” (Harrison, 1993, p. 2). This means that the power is in hands of the citizens. The rules of this governmental from are easily understood.
One of the contemporary definitions of democracy today is as follows: “Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives; Rule by the majority” (“Democracy” Def.1,4). Democracy, as a form of government, was a radical idea when it manifested; many governments in the early history of the world were totalitarian or tyrannical in nature, due to overarching beliefs that the strong ruled over the weak.
More importantly, what is a democracy exactly? Some would define it as a form of government where the people rule, others as where the poor rule, and I would say it is where everyone contributes in how the government is ran but do not control the final decisions made. In Aristotle 's "Democracy and Oligarchy", he discusses the different kinds of democracies that exist and how equality plays a huge role in defining it. Without equality, or even limiting it, it can change a democracy into an oligarchy. He goes into detail about each kind there is and further analyzes how regardless of having similar elements, they are each unique in their own way.
Democracy: a government by the people, in which citizens rule either directly or through elected representatives - the latter description more relevant to today’s societies. Quite evidently, democracy is not perfect; like any other political system, it is subject to a plethora of flaws. For instance, it is no secret that voters tend to make illogical decisions – not out of sheer malice, but as a result of being wrongly informed. Politicians also make erroneous choices, whether they do so because they are dishonest or simply out of touch with the true will of their constituents. Further, anyone who has studied the government of a parliamentary democracy knows gerrymandering can have a powerful say in determining elections. Despite these and other flaws however, democracy still seems to work.
Throughout history different types of instrumental regimes have been in tact so civilizations remained structured and cohesive. As humanity advanced, governments obligingly followed. Although there have been hiccups from the ancient times to modern day, one type of government, democracy, has proven to be the most effective and adaptive. As quoted by Winston Churchill, democracy is the best form of government that has existed. This is true because the heart of democracy is reliant, dependent, and thrives on the populaces desires; which gives them the ability for maintaining the right to choose, over time it adjusts and fixes itself to engulf the prominent troubling issues, and people have the right of electing the person they deem appropriate and can denounce them once they no longer appease them. In this paper, the benefits of democracy are outlined, compared to autocratic communism, and finally the flaws of democracy are illustrated.
Democracy is important and valuable to the people of the United States. It is the form of government that rules us all. Democracy is one type of government with different variations. The idea of democracy has two meanings. The ideal and the real. The ideal is that democracy that listens to everyone and gives freedom as well as equality. For example, there is direct democracy, in which every person votes to come to an agreement. This is a type of democracy that cannot be accomplished in the United States due to the population size. Instead we have what is called a representative democracy or the real type of democracy. In this type of democracy, we the people get to choose someone to represent our values an opinions and that person reports this to the government. We have this type of democracy because perfect democracy does not exist. It would be extremely hard to accomplish or even come close to it. The reality is that the United States is one of the closest best forms of democracy, yet it’s far from perfect. The U.S. and what makes it a working democracy contains more than just representation. The government is made up of the Constitution, the rule of the majority, public opinion, elections, mass media, interest
The foundation of the modern political system was laid in the times when the world was strangled in slavery. In those moments, enlightened minds in Greek came up with the new system that was there to remain for the next thousands of years. This system, now known as democracy, is a form of government in which supreme power is vested to the people themselves. People have the right to elect their leaders directly or indirectly through a scheme of representation usually involving periodically held free elections. A new democratic government is usually established after every 4-5 years, and it is trusted with the responsibility to cater to the needs of all the people irrespective of the fact that they voted for them or not. Although the minorities may not be very pleased with the idea of democracy, however, a democratic government is certainly the best because it establishes social equality among people, reduces the conflicts in the state to a minimum, gives the chance to vote repeatedly, and creates patriotism.
What is democracy? Democracy a form of government in which the people freely elect representatives to govern them in a country, democracy guarantees free and fair elections, basic personal and political rights and independent court of law. There are two types of democracy, direct and indirect democracy. Direct democracy or pure democracy is where there is direct participate of the people; people make decisions for them instead of letting them representative make decision for them. Indirect democracy the decisions are made by the representative on behalf of the people that voted for them. All over the world people are having different views with regard to democracy and how it operates. “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried” ~ Winston Churchill, some have said democracy is the worst government form of government which I also think it’s! Due to the how it operates.