Representative Democracy
Democracy is a form of government wherein citizens are allowed to govern themselves by
participating in the formulation and passage of laws and in making governmental decisions.
Although democracy had been practiced in many ancient civilizations, it was thought to have originated
in ancient Greece particularly in the city state of Athens; Athenian democracy was a direct democracy.
Direct democracy is also known as pure democracy. In a direct democracy, citizens propose, decide,
and change Constitutional laws; initiate referendums; and choose and remove public officials who are
not effectively doing their jobs. It is practiced in only a few places, like Switzerland, where citizens
approve laws using a single majority in the town or city levels, and a double majority at the national
level. Laws are proposed by its citizens and must be approved by a majority of the voters. This type of
system works best with smaller groups, where it is easy to hear every single person’s vote and voter
participation is high.
A representative democracy is when citizens elect or choose a government officials to represent them
in the lawmaking process. Those elected officials, called electors, are the ones to propose and approve
laws based on the interests of the public that they are representing. This type of system is more
effective in larger countries, where it would be difficult to gather each individual’s vote, or where voter
participation is lower. In many countries, like the United States, electors are used on the national and
state levels of government, but not used on the municipal (city or town) level.
While most developed countries today have representative democracies, there are both benefits and
drawbacks to a system like this.
Advantages of a Representative Democracy
1. When operating as it should, it is a highly efficient form of government.
Instead of forcing everyone to vote on everything, a representative democracy allows decisions
to be made by a group of elected officials who can dedicate themselves full-time to the decision-
making process. A representative democracy is often a desirable choice for larger countries
where the logistics of voting are a long and painstaking process. Rather than waiting for each
citizen to turn out to vote, shortcuts can be made to expedite the process.
2. People still have a voice.
Although a representative democracy takes away the direct decision-making power of
individuals, it does not completely eliminate their influence on the government. If the
population is dissatisfied with the performance of their elected official, they can vote to remove
that person on the next election cycle.
3. It can help everyone, even if they don’t participate in the political process.
Elected officials are tasked with making decisions for their entire district or region. Everyone
who lives in that area benefits from the decisions made by their representative. Even individuals
who are not engaged in the political process benefit from this representation. For example, if the
representative helps pass a law to lower taxes in that district, everyone benefits, even those who
did not vote.
4. Controls can be put into place to limit the individual action of an elected official. Recall
elections, which is when an official is voted to be removed from office, and other similar rules
can be used within a representative democracy to allow a district to remove an elected official
who is not meeting their expectations.
