The Main Features & Principles of Representative Democracy
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The main features & principles of representative democracy
There are three key principles of representative democracy, based on the process through which representatives are chosen and removed. The first is that popular participation is indirect, meaning there is an electoral process to choose who will rule on the peoples behalf. The second principle takes the form of mediated popular participation, whereby the people, that is, the population, are linked to government through representative institutions, in the UK these are called constitutions. The third principle states that popular participation is limited; people are restricted to voting every few years, making the process limited and brief.
Advantages of representative democracy
Disadvantages of representative democracy
Representative democracy is a practical
The limited nature of participation in a
solution to the problem of popular rule,
representative democracy can lead to too much
as it is the only form of democracy that can
voter apathy, and a lack of engagement. The
operate in large, modern societies
compromise between the need for government
by the people and government for the people
Professional politicians are able to use their
can prove itself to be too large, as critics argue,
superior understanding and expertise to
at best it leads to voting becoming a form of
devote their time to politics, this benefits all
democratic ritual and at worst it benefits the
of society as time is more efficiently used
government more than the people.
and significant progress in the public
interest is more likely to be made than in
The principle of indirect participation is
a direct democracy.
troublesome as society can become dependent on
self-interested, self-serving politicians, acting
The system of representative