Representative democracy
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Representative democracy,electoral democracyorindirect democracyis atype of democracywhere representatives are elected by the public.[1]Nearly all modernWestern-style democraciesfunction as some type of representative democracy: for example, theUnited Kingdom(aunitaryparliamentaryconstitutional monarchy),Germany(afederal parliamentary republic),France(a unitarysemi-presidentialrepublic), and theUnited States(a federalpresidentialrepublic).[2]This is different fromdirect democracy,where the public votes directly on laws or policies, rather than representatives.[3]
Political partiesoften become prominent in representative democracy ifelectoral systemsrequire or encourage voters to vote for political parties or for candidates associated with political parties (as opposed to voting for individual representatives).[4]Somepolitical theorists(includingRobert Dahl,Gregory Houston,andIan Liebenberg) have described representative democracy aspolyarchy.[5][6]
Representative democracy can be organized in different ways including bothparliamentaryandpresidential systemsofgovernment.Elected representatives typically form alegislature(such as a parliament or congress), which may be composed of asingle chamber(unicameral),two chambers(bicameral), ormore than two chambers(multicameral). Where two or more chambers exist, their members are often elected indifferent ways.The power of representatives is usually curtailed by aconstitution(as in aconstitutional democracyor aconstitutional monarchy) or other measures to balance representative power:[7]
- Anindependent judiciary,which may have the power to declare legislative acts unconstitutional (e.g.constitutional court,supreme court).
- The constitution may also provide for somedeliberative democracy(e.g.,Royal Commissions) or direct popular measures (e.g.,initiative,referendum,recall elections). However, these are not always binding and usually require some legislative action—legal power usually remains firmly with representatives.[where?]
- In some cases, abicameral legislaturemay have an "upper house"that is not directly elected, such as theSenate of Canada,which was in turn modeled on theBritish House of Lords.
Some political theorists, such asEdmund Burke,believe that part of the duty of a representative is not simply to follow the wishes of the electorate but also to use their own judgment in the exercise of their powers, even if their views are not reflective of those of a majority of voters.[8]A representative who chooses to execute the wishes of his or her constituents acts as a delegate. If the representative chooses to use his or her best judgment and knowledge in making decisions, even when the constituents do not fully agree with the decision, then the representative acts as a trustee.
History
[edit]TheRoman Republicwas the first known state in theWestern worldto have a representative government, despite taking the form of a direct government in theRoman assemblies.The Roman model of governance would inspire many political thinkers over the centuries,[9]and today's modern representative democracies imitate more the Roman than the Greek model, because it was a state in which supreme power was held by the people and their elected representatives, and which had an elected or nominated leader.[10]Representative democracy is a form of democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives; as opposed to direct democracy, a form of democracy in which people vote on policy initiatives directly.[11]AEuropeanmedievaltradition of selecting representatives from the variousestates(classes,but not as we know them today) to advise/controlmonarchsled to relatively wide familiarity with representative systems inspired by Roman systems.
In Britain,Simon de Montfortis remembered as one of the fathers of representative government for holding two famous parliaments.[12][13]The first,in 1258, stripped thekingof unlimited authority and the second, in 1265, includedordinary citizens from the towns.[14]Later, in the 17th century, theParliament of Englandimplemented some of the ideas and systems ofliberal democracy,culminating in theGlorious Revolutionand passage of theBill of Rights 1689.[15][16]Widening of the voting franchise took place through a series ofReform Actsin the 19th and 20th centuries.
TheAmerican Revolutionled to the creation of a newConstitution of the United Statesin 1787, with a national legislature based partly on direct elections of representatives every two years, and thus responsible to the electorate for continuance in office.Senatorswere not directly elected by the people until the adoption of theSeventeenth Amendmentin 1913. Women, men who owned no property, and Black people, and others not originally given voting rights, in most states eventuallygained the vote through changes in state and federal lawin the course of the 19th and 20th centuries. Until it was repealed by theFourteenth Amendmentfollowing theCivil War,theThree-Fifths Compromisegave a disproportionate representation ofslave statesin theHouse of Representativesrelative to the voters in free states.[17][18]
In 1789,Revolutionary Franceadopted theDeclaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizenand, although short-lived, theNational Conventionwas elected by all males in 1792.[19]Universal male suffragewas re-established in France in the wake of theFrench Revolution of 1848.[20]
Representative democracy came into general favour particularly in post-industrial revolutionnation stateswhere large numbers ofcitizensevinced interest inpolitics,but where technology and population figures remained unsuited to direct democracy.[citation needed]Many historians credit theReform Act 1832with launching modern representative democracy in the United Kingdom.[21][22]
Globally, a majority of governments in the world are representative democracies, including constitutional monarchies and republics with strong representative branches.[23]
Research on representation democracy
[edit]Separate but related, and very large, bodies of research inpolitical philosophyandsocial scienceinvestigate how and how well elected representatives, such as legislators, represent the interests or preferences of one or another constituency. Theempirical researchshows that representative systems tend to be biased towards the representation of more affluent classes to the detriment of the population at large.[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]
Criticisms
[edit]In his bookPolitical Parties,written in 1911,Robert Michelsargues that most representative systems deteriorate towards anoligarchyorparticracy.This is known as theiron law of oligarchy.[32] Representative democracies which are stable have been analysed byAdolf Gasserand compared to the unstable representative democracies in his bookGemeindefreiheit als Rettung Europaswhich was published in 1943 and a second edition in 1947.[33]Adolf Gasser stated the following requirements for a representative democracy in order to remain stable, unaffected by the iron law of oligarchy:
- Society has to be built up from bottom to top. As a consequence, society is built up by people, who are free and have the power to defend themselves with weapons.
- These free people join or form local communities. These local communities are independent, which includesfinancial independence,and they are free to determine their own rules.
- Local communities join into a higher unit, e.g. a canton.
- There is no hierarchicalbureaucracy.
- There is competition between these local communities, e.g. on services delivered or on taxes.
A drawback to this type of government is that elected officials are not required to fulfill promises made before their election and are able to promote their own self-interests once elected, providing an incohesive system of governance.[34]Legislators are also under scrutiny as the system of majority-won legislators voting for issues for the large group of people fosters inequality among themarginalized.[35]
Proponents ofdirect democracycriticize representative democracy due to its inherent structure. As the fundamental basis of representative democracy is non inclusive system, in which representatives turn into anelite classthat works behind closed doors, as well as the criticizing the elector system as being driven by acapitalisticandauthoritariansystem.[36][37]
Proposed solutions
[edit]The system ofstochocracyhas been proposed as an improved system compared to the system of representative democracy, where representatives are elected. Stochocracy aims to at least reduce this degradation by having all representatives appointed bylotteryinstead of by voting. Therefore, this system is also called lottocracy. The system was proposed by the writer Roger de Sizif in 1998 in his bookLa Stochocratie.Choosing officeholders by lot was also the standard practice in ancientAthenian democracy[38]and inancient India.The rationale behind this practice was to avoidlobbyingandelectioneeringby economic oligarchs.
The system ofdeliberative democracyis a mix between a majority-ruled system and a consensus-based system. It allows for representative democracies or direct democracies to coexist with its system of governance, providing an initial advantage.[39]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Black, Jeremy;Brewer, Paul; Shaw, Anthony; Chandler, Malcolm; Cheshire, Gerard; Cranfield, Ingrid; Ralph Lewis, Brenda; Sutherland, Joe; Vint, Robert (2003).World History.Bath, Somerset:Parragon Books. p. 341.ISBN0-75258-227-5.
- ^Loeper, Antoine (2016). "Cross-border externalities and cooperation among representative democracies".European Economic Review.91:180–208.doi:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2016.10.003.hdl:10016/25180.
- ^"Victorian Electronic Democracy, Final Report – Glossary".28 July 2005. Archived fromthe originalon 13 December 2007.Retrieved14 December2007.
- ^De Vos et al (2014) South African Constitutional Law – In Context: Oxford University Press.
- ^Houston, G F (2001) Public Participation in Democratic Governance in South Africa, Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council HSRC Press
- ^Dahl, R A (2005) "Is international democracy possible? A critical view", in Sergio Fabbrini (editor):Democracy and Federalism in the European Union and the United States: Exploring post-national governance:195 to 204 (Chapter 13), Abingdon on the Thames: Routledge.
- ^"CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY".civiced.org.Retrieved18 November2019.
- ^The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke. Volume I.London: Henry G. Bohn. 1854. pp. 446–8.
Certainly, Gentlemen, it ought to be the happiness and glory of a Representative, to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him; their opinion, high respect; their business, unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs; and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own. But his unbiassed opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living. These he does not derive from your pleasure; no, nor from the Law and the Constitution. They are a trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.
- ^Livy; De Sélincourt, A.; Ogilvie, R. M.; Oakley, S. P. (2002).The early history of Rome: books I-V of The history of Rome from its foundations.Penguin Classics. p. 34.ISBN0-14-044809-8.
- ^Watson, 2005, p. 271
- ^Budge, Ian (2001)."Direct democracy".In Clarke, Paul A.B.; Foweraker, Joe (eds.).Encyclopedia of Political Thought.Taylor & Francis.ISBN978-0-415-19396-2.
- ^Jobson, Adrian (2012).The First English Revolution: Simon de Montfort, Henry III and the Barons' War.Bloomsbury. pp. 173–4.ISBN978-1-84725-226-5.
- ^"Simon de Montfort: The turning point for democracy that gets overlooked".BBC. 19 January 2015.Retrieved19 January2015;"The January Parliament and how it defined Britain".The Telegraph.20 January 2015.Archivedfrom the original on 11 January 2022.Retrieved28 January2015.
- ^Norgate, Kate(1894)..InLee, Sidney(ed.).Dictionary of National Biography.Vol. 38. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^Kopstein, Jeffrey; Lichbach, Mark; Hanson, Stephen E., eds. (2014).Comparative Politics: Interests, Identities, and Institutions in a Changing Global Order(4, revised ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 37–9.ISBN978-1139991384.
Britain pioneered the system of liberal democracy that has now spread in one form or another to most of the world's countries
- ^"Constitutionalism: America & Beyond".Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP), U.S. Department of State. Archived fromthe originalon 24 October 2014.Retrieved30 October2014.
The earliest, and perhaps greatest, victory for liberalism was achieved in England. The rising commercial class that had supported the Tudor monarchy in the 16th century led the revolutionary battle in the 17th and succeeded in establishing the supremacy of Parliament and, eventually, of the House of Commons. What emerged as the distinctive feature of modern constitutionalism was not the insistence on the idea that the king is subject to the law (although this concept is an essential attribute of all constitutionalism). This notion was already well established in the Middle Ages. What was distinctive was the establishment of effective means of political control whereby the rule of law might be enforced. Modern constitutionalism was born with the political requirement that representative government depended upon the consent of citizen subjects... However, as can be seen through provisions in the 1689 Bill of Rights, the English Revolution was fought not just to protect the rights of property (in the narrow sense) but to establish those liberties which liberals believed essential to human dignity and moral worth. The "rights of man" enumerated in the English Bill of Rights gradually were proclaimed beyond the boundaries of England, notably in the American Declaration of Independence of 1776 and in the French Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789.
- ^"We Hold These Truths to be Self-evident;" An Interdisciplinary Analysis of the Roots of Racism & slavery in America Kenneth N. Addison; Introduction P. xxii
- ^"Expansion of Rights and Liberties".National Archives. 30 October 2015.Retrieved27 December2015.
- ^"The French Revolution II".Mars.wnec.edu. Archived fromthe originalon 27 August 2008.Retrieved22 August2010.
- ^French National Assembly."1848" Désormais le bulletin de vote doit remplacer le fusil ""(in French).Retrieved26 September2009.
- ^A. Ricardo López; Barbara Weinstein (2012).The Making of the Middle Class: Toward a Transnational History.Duke UP. p. 58.ISBN978-0822351290.
- ^Eric J. Evans,The Forging of the Modern State: Early Industrial Britain, 1783–1870(2nd ed. 1996) p. 229
- ^Roser, Max (15 March 2013)."Democracy".Our World in Data.
- ^Jacobs, Lawrence R.; Page, Benjamin I. (February 2005). "Who Influences U.S. Foreign Policy?".American Political Science Review.99(1): 107–123.doi:10.1017/S000305540505152X.S2CID154481971.
- ^Bernauer, Julian; Giger, Nathalie; Rosset, Jan (January 2015). "Mind the gap: Do proportional electoral systems foster a more equal representation of women and men, poor and rich?".International Political Science Review.36(1): 78–98.doi:10.1177/0192512113498830.S2CID145633250.
- ^Gilens, Martin; Page, Benjamin I. (September 2014)."Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens".Perspectives on Politics.12(3): 564–581.doi:10.1017/S1537592714001595.
- ^Carnes, Nicholas (2013).White-Collar Government: The Hidden Role of Class in Economic Policy Making.University of Chicago Press.ISBN978-0-226-08728-3.[page needed]
- ^Carnes, Nicholas; Lupu, Noam (January 2015). "Rethinking the Comparative Perspective on Class and Representation: Evidence from Latin America".American Journal of Political Science.59(1): 1–18.doi:10.1111/ajps.12112.
- ^Giger, Nathalie; Rosset, Jan; Bernauer, Julian (April 2012). "The Poor Political Representation of the Poor in a Comparative Perspective".Representation.48(1): 47–61.doi:10.1080/00344893.2012.653238.S2CID154081733.
- ^Peters, Yvette; Ensink, Sander J. (4 May 2015)."Differential Responsiveness in Europe: The Effects of Preference Difference and Electoral Participation".West European Politics.38(3): 577–600.doi:10.1080/01402382.2014.973260.S2CID153452076.
- ^Schakel, Wouter; Burgoon, Brian; Hakhverdian, Armen (March 2020)."Real but Unequal Representation in Welfare State Reform".Politics & Society.48(1): 131–163.doi:10.1177/0032329219897984.hdl:1887/138869.S2CID214235967.
- ^Zur Soziologie des Parteiwesens in der modernen Demokratie. Untersuchungen über die oligarchischen Tendenzen des Gruppenlebens (1911, 1925; 1970). Translated asSociologia del partito politico nella democrazia moderna: studi sulle tendenze oligarchiche degli aggregati politici,from the German original by Dr. Alfredo Polledro, revised and expanded (1912). Translated, from the Italian, by Eden and Cedar Paul asPolitical Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy' "(Hearst's International Library Co., 1915; Free Press, 1949; Dover Publications, 1959); republished with an introduction by Seymour Martin Lipset (Crowell-Collier, 1962; Transaction Publishers, 1999,ISBN0-7658-0469-7); translated in French by S. Jankélévitch,Les partis politiques. Essai sur les tendances oligarchiques des démocraties,Brussels, Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles, 2009 (ISBN978-2-8004-1443-0).
- ^Gemeindefreiheit als Rettung Europas. Grundlinien einer ethischen Geschichtsauffassung. Verlag Bücherfreunde, Basel 1947. In 1983 republished under: "Gemeindefreiheit – kommunale Selbstverwaltung" (Adolf Gasser/Franz-Ludwig Knemeyer), in de reeks "Studien zur Soziologie", Nymphenburger, München, 1983.
- ^Sørensen, Eva (25 April 2016)."Enhancing policy innovation by redesigning representative democracy".Policy & Politics.44(2): 155–170.doi:10.1332/030557315X14399997475941.S2CID156556922.ProQuest1948833814.
- ^Thaa, Winfried (3 May 2016). "Issues and images – new sources of inequality in current representative democracy".Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy.19(3): 357–375.doi:10.1080/13698230.2016.1144859.S2CID147669709.
- ^Razsa, Maple; Kurnik, Andrej (May 2012). "The Occupy Movement in Žižek's hometown: Direct democracy and a politics of becoming: The Occupy Movement in Žižek's hometown".American Ethnologist.39(2): 238–258.doi:10.1111/j.1548-1425.2012.01361.x.
- ^Heckert, Jamie (2010)."Anarchist roots & routes"(PDF).European Journal of Ecopsychology.1:19–36.
- ^"1,5".Origins of Democracy in Ancient Greece.Josiah Ober, Robert Wallace, Paul Cartledge, Cynthia Farrar (1st ed.). 15 October 2008. pp. 17, 105.ISBN978-0520258099.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: others (link) - ^Bohman, James (1997).Deliberative Democracy(PDF).MIT Press.
