direct democracy is superior to representative democracy

• Paragraph 1 For direct democracy - decision making

  • directly involves the people in decision making to reinforce greater legitimacy and enhance public satisfaction
  • Eliminating parliamentary sovereignty as the power rests in the hands of the electorate and better fulfills the central purposes of democracy more effectively
  • E petitions are a form of civic engagemetn and politics expression
  • E-petition for hillsbourough disaster for further investigation
  • E - petition for another general election 2025 Jamie Stone MP "Always encouraging public participation in politics" 3 million signatures
• Paragraph 1 Against Point:

  • The argument for e petitions is weak as it is a lazy form of political participation, known as slacktivism
  • It is just too easy to submit a petition and can be a problem for meaningful engagement
  • Some petitions arent well thought and in some cases can be extreme resulting in Tyranny of the majority 
  • In switzerland minarets of mosques were banned via an initiative no muslim group had an intention to build one. Yet the right - wing campaign gathered over 10% of petitions, resulting in the referendum that came out in favour of the ban. the iniative can create mob rule
• Paragraph 2 For: Enhances political participation  

  • Giving equal rights to all voters, campaigns are more likely to seek to appeal to everyone rather than targeting specific groups thus participation. 
  • Public is consistently encourages to participate 
  • Example: Citizen juries and town hall meetings, whereby a community meets over a set period of times to discuss an issue and making recommendations based on deliberations. These juries are a tool for engaging citizens on a range of issues, increasing political participation 
  • This was effective in ireland to consider changes to abortion law
  • Gender equality 2021 - challenge the remaining barriers and social norms and attitudes that facilitate gender discrimination
• Paragraph 2 Against: strain on the public and creates voter fatigue

  • Direct democracy places a heavy burden on ordinary people which could lead to apathy instead of greater participation.
  • Rep democracy has the advantage of creating a balance of everyday working life and putting time into the political culture.
  • Over - participation takes away value from the referneda.
  • 2021 there have been 54 referendums questioning the implementation of a directly elected mayor in the region.
  • These have consistently resulted with low turnouts, such as croydon in 2021 with only 21% whereas under representative democracy the 2019 UK General election have a turnout of 67%
• Para 3 For: misrepresentation by MPs

  • Latter fails to deliver effective representation in practice. MPs will often prioritize their own agendas and MPs rely on their parties to gain power and are whipped heavily by them to vote with the party in parliament. - They aim for self preservation 
  • Direct democracy can combat this through recall elections. The act passed in 2015, allows for constituents to recall their mP and call a by - election. Christopher Davies called for a recall and by - election because of his provision of false / misleading expenses.
• Para 3 Against: Point: some issues are too complex for the public to understand

  • Public may not understand complex policies.
  • Shifts power from experts to uninformed masses.
  • Recall votes create instability.
  • Rep democracy better—MPs act as trustees, not just delegates.
  • Despite the governments ordering them to oppose it. Specifically, MP mark fletcher reflered this strong local movement against fracking in the area and refused to tow the party line because of this
  • A clear incidences of MPs putting their constituents interests first whilst successfully utilising representative democracy was in october 2022. 33 con MPs rebelled against Truss and abstained in a vote on banning fracking. 
• Conclusion: Dem involved in decision making is overbearingly flawed. The risk of a tyranny of the majority occurring undermines the innate principle of democracy, alienating sections of the electorate.
• Arguments

  • Direct demoracy idrectly involves the people in decision making VS E-petitions are a lazy form of political participation
  • Enhances political particpation as it gives equal rights to all voters VS Constant participation may over strain the publics desire to participate leading to voters fatigue
  • Direct democracy is superior to representative democracy as the latter fails to deliver effective representation in practice VS public may often find some agreements too complex properly comprehend