The biggest form of participation in representative democracy is voting according to Dr. Davis. Aside from voting, citizens have little or no participation in politics. Even when dealing with the citizens" freedom to vote, the participation is limited.
In politics, there are two dominant political parties along with several smaller parties. The political parties hold conventions and determine the candidate that will run as the representative of their party on the election ballot through private caucuses. In the end, citizens are allowed to vote for one of the selected candidates rather than their ideal choice. There is a place on the ballot for write-ins, but the system is set up so that the constituents believe that their vote will not amount to anything if they do not vote along the two more dominant party lines. However, one can see the chaos that would result when electing officials if everyone voted for their particular choice. How would a majority be met? On the other hand, in a true democracy, representatives are not feasible. Since representatives are used in representative democracy, one could classify this theory as a false democracy. There is no real evidence that majority rules. Instead, it is those who!.
are placed in a position of power that rule in the end. Representative democracy was not intended to corrupt society. In theory, it functions to represent a great mass of citizens equally.
We cannot overlook the fact that there are millions of constituents in our nation. Representative democracy aims at allowing for everyone to be heard in the most efficient and orderly manner possible. Everyone is given the same representation. If the representatives were held responsible for their constituents" ideas and beliefs, then representative democracy could work in a democratic way. However, our representatives act out of self-interest. We do not hold them liable for our opinions.