Homework Question on Direct and Representative Democracy
Differences between a direct and a representative democracy.
Homework Answer on Direct and Representative Democracy
Direct democracy is a form of government where the people decide and vote for all the policies directly whereas representative government is a form of government where the elected official represents the followers and make decisions on their behalf (Smith, 2009). U.S. is an example of a representative democracy since different representatives are elected at the county, city, state, and federal levels. Direct democracy is at times referred to as the pure democracy since as citizens bear the rights to propose, decide, and change constitutional laws. They are able to initiate referendums, chose, and eliminate ineffective leaders. Citizens in this form of democracy are very active and influence every issue the government takes. This may be challenging for the governments with high populations (Smith, 2009).
Succession is neither elective nor heritance in direct democracy while in representative democracy succession is elective. A parliament and a constitution exist in representative while they may be absent in direct. When comparing the history of these democracies, direct democracy originated in the 5th century BC while representative originated in the 16th century AD (Pimbert, 2010). The founders of the direct were Cleisthenes, Jean Jacques Rousseau while in representative; its foundation is attributed to numerous leaders.
In direct democracy, the system is faster; people’s rights are adhered, as they are able to exercise their rights. Citizens are also empowered. Weaknesses of this democracy includes increased corruption rate, there is high negligence in voting, probability of having poor representatives in voting. The benefits in representative democracy include the presence of elective representatives, implying that the interests of the majority are represented by the few.Citizens can exercise their freedom and the majority rules in this case. Peoples’ rights are upheld and there is exercise of voting.