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Direct Democracy vs Representative democracy

Why is it that citizens as a whole do not go out and vote? It's not that hard or time consuming. It does not require a great deal of effort you just vote for the leader that embodies your ideological thought. It seems that voter participation over the years has been decreasing. There are several factors that come into play but proponents of direct democracy claim that voter turnout and citizen participation is down do to the fact that the people do not feel like they can make a significant contribution to initiate any sort of change. They feel that the solution lies within the realm of direct democracy. They dispute, that it is the only way to truly empower the citizen by giving them the power to decide what they want through the use of referendums, initiatives and recall. Virtually transforming the voter from a " passive supporter to a active participant So in short referendums are the only way to vanquish voter apathy. Through referendums the people can a make a decision on the burdensome questions that politicians seem to deflect. It also forces the voter to go out and learn the issues and the facts behind each issue so they can make an educated decision. Initiatives are often used in Switzerland, a country which is a frequent user of referendums and has a political system based on direct democracy. If Canada were to use initiatives then citizens of Canada would only need to gather a certain percentage of signed petitions usually around one percent to initiate a referendum in which the people can vote on new law and statues. In most cases this type of direct democracy is seldom seen at the federal level and is most common at the provincial and municipal levels of government. Recall is another tool of direct democracy as it keeps politicians accountable for their actions. A recent example of the use of the recall was in the state of California. There the people decided that Gray Davis was not up to the job anymore and so he lost and popular action movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger became the new governor of that state.


Essays Related to Direct Democracy vs Representative democracy

1. How Democratic Are We?

Pennsylvania's structure of government during the Revolutionary war was a good example of direct democracy. Direct democracy is defined as a form of political decision-making in which all citizens in a small assembly decide all business concerning the public (Greenberg 7). In my understanding, direct democracy is the closest the US became to a genuine democracy. ... The United States did not run the nation under direct democracy but they decided on a representative government. ... The Supreme Court has past their limits when it came to the trial of Bush vs. ...

  • Word Count: 976
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography

2. Government Items

Direct Democracy - The truest form of democratic government in which the people rule directly by popular vote. ... Democratic Republic - The more common form of democracy in which the people rule indirectly through elected representatives. ... House of Burgesses - the first representative assembly in the colonies. Heritage - Democracy - rule by the people, a government in which the people hold the ruling power directly or through elected representatives. ... Prohibitory Act - Cut off all trade between Patriotism vs. ...

  • Word Count: 606
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. Technology

The advent and development of new technologies has created a forum for public debate over the merits of representative democracy vs. direct democracy. New technologies are enabling us to experiment with a system of direct democracy, which has for so long been unable to compete with proportional representation due to reasons of practicality. ... New developments in technology have led to an increased level of interest in direct democracy, for now more than ever before this system appears to be practical in its applications and methodology. Direct democracy is essentially the right of citizens t...

  • Word Count: 872
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. electoral college vs popular v

To determine how many electors a state has, just add the number of senators to the number of representatives. ... The election of the President would no longer reflect what the people want and furthermore, it effectively eliminates the entire point of being a democracy. ... Various people feel that with all the advances in technology, the United States should switch from a representative democracy to a direct democracy. ... The United States should switch to a direct democracy. ... "Potential Parallels- Finding Precedent: Hayes vs. ...

  • Word Count: 1493
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Andrew Jackson and Democracy

Throughout the formation of our current political system, the expectations of the American people towards their representatives have undergone a drastic change between the time of our founding and the election of the seventh president of the United States, Andrew Jackson in 1828. ... Jackson offered limited government to the right wing and more direct power for the people to the left wing. ... Both of these esteemed individuals viewed democracy to require the input of the people, however, initially neither thought the representatives" hands should be tied to correlate their votes exactly with ...

  • Word Count: 1680
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Who Is Voting?

By the definition given by The New Lexicon Webster's Dictionary Encyclopedic Edition, Democracy is a "Government by the people, usually through elected representatives." People elect representatives to represent them in the in the overall government. ... How is this country a Democracy when such a flaw would destroy the sole purpose of a democracy, which is to represent the majority of the people? ... In other words, representatives were never intended to represent. ... Because of cases such as Cleveland vs. ...

  • Word Count: 1973
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. Electoral College

By the definition given by The New Lexicon Webster's Dictionary Encyclopedic Edition, Democracy is a "Government by the people, usually through elected representatives." People elect representatives to represent them in the in the overall government. ... How is this country a Democracy when such a flaw would destroy the sole purpose of a democracy, which is to represent the majority of the people? ... In other words, representatives were never intended to represent. ... Because of cases such as Cleveland vs. ...

  • Word Count: 2001
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. Geography Of Elections

Particular representation may also be known as, a representative democracy. ... This representation implies a direct geographical link between the representative and the district they represent. Each representative is accountable primarily to the voters from the district that elected them. ... In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled in Baker vs. ... Baker vs. ...

  • Word Count: 1572
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

9. John marshall

The father of constitutional law, chief justice John Marshall played a pivotal role in the construction of democracy in the United States. Marshall was our nations fourth chief justice and is accredited with helping to establish the power of the United States Supreme Court and strongly enforcing co...

  • Word Count: 1555
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

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