Current systems of representative and direct democracy

• Democracy is where power is exercised by the mass of the people.
• Direct democracy is when all individuals express their opinions themselves and not through representatives acting on their behalf.
• Representative democracy is where an individual selects a representative (a person or political party) to act on their behalf to exercise political choice. Citizens pass authority to their representatives.
• Advantages of direct democracy

  • Reduces the power of professional politicians
  • Increases participation and debate
  • 'Purer' form of democracy
  • Increases the legitimacy of decisions
  • Simpler for voters to understand
  • All votes count equally (unlike first past the post)
• Disadvantages of direct democracy:

  • Issues may be too complex for people to understand
  • Often an emotional response from voters
  • Impractical in a large, heavily populated state
  • Too much power to wealthy groups who may distort debates
  • Tyranny of the majority- lack of minority influence
  • Frequent referendums can lead to voter fatigue
  • Politicians can be experts in their specific field
  • Low turnout reduces legitimacy
  • It can become an opinion poll on popularity of the government
• Pluralist democracy is when a government makes decisions as a result of the interplay of various ideas and contrasting arguments from competing groups and organisations.