Traditionally, two kinds of substantive democracy are recognized: 1-direct, 2-indirect.
1. In a direct democracy, make the laws directly and individually by casting a vote for a given law that becomes binding by the ratio of 50%+1 formula (50% of all votes cast, plus –at least--one single vote) that renders it a slim/simple majority. If the result is also binding, it also make it “the dictatorship of the majority”—meaning, the minority will have no recourse to redress. This is what national referendums (referenda)--meaning choosing one from many choices) and plebiscites (choosing one of the two choices given) are. But as of late, more and more communities, in the US and other places this method is becoming more and more common, thanks to the spread of electronic mass media which can quickly fill in the voters with information for and against an initiative/new rule/desired law. California was at the forefront of this, but have now is backtracking after having made one too many remarkably bad laws through this process of direct democracy.
2. In an indirect democracy, people elect the body of professionals to make the decision for them, either to make laws by themselves and in the name of the people who elected them, OR, they vote to elect yet another, even smaller body of more experienced individual to make the laws (or enforce or interpret them).
The proponents of indirect democracy state the lack of knowledge on the part of the common people/voter and their amateurism that renders them easy targets for special interests, political opportunists and crooks. Common people are by necessity politically illiterate and therefore extremely shortsighted as the consequence. Let us test this theory on you:
It is time to elect the world leader, and your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three leading candidates:
Candidate A: Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologists. He has had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.
Concepts of Democracy Democracies • From the Greek demos (people) and kratia (to rule). Thus ~ rule by the people Too simple & naïve • Democracy is a system of government in which people select policy makers so that policies reflect the will of those governed. (explain…) Two forms of Democracy • Direct democracy allows the people the authority to govern themselves directly • People make and vote on policies in forums • Only exist in small communities today Two forms of Democracy • Representative…
government's power. What it means is that the People allow the government to rule for them. (Article 21) An example is that If people don't like a senator they have the right to kick him out, if enough people agree that he/she is doing a bad job. Democracy Government is a system of government in which the people hold the ultimate power to make the laws. The jury system is the only truly democratic part of our government because that is the only part in which ordinary people have a real say, because…
How is a Chinese President Elected Introduction The nature of the Chinese president is different from the president in democracies. Many experts argue that the Presidential position in China is largely ornamental with no real decision making power. In World Constitution - A Comparative Study: Political Science Vishnoo Bhagwan and Vidya Bhushan argues, A critical analysis of the functions of the President reveals that he is only a glamorous head of State. He does not make any decision…
Examine and assess the ways in which the state claims legitimacy. The state refers to the shared ideas and expectations regarding the ordering of social life, it is seen by social scientists as a set of practices and organisations. The state is an institutional order striving to create some order, thus preventing chaos in order to ensure law and order to encourage social stability. Governments include a part of the state, with the main concern being the protection of individual freedom…
very much believed in democracy, to question democracy based on elections and to embrace a new form of democracy, one that represented no one group in the population. The 55 delegates who drafted the Constitution included most of the outstanding leaders, or Founding Fathers, of the new nation. They represented a wide range of interests, backgrounds, and stations in life. All agreed, however, on the central objectives expressed in the preamble to the Constitution. The indirect selection of three…
authors and their literary/intellectual contributions to political thought, these are: John Locke Two Treatises on Government (1690) John Locke is responsible for espousing three of the founding principles of what would become the American form of Democracy. Locke described the Social Contract, a notion that held that an unwritten contract or agreement existed between the people and their rulers, by which the people allowed the government to rule and in exchange the government protected the natural…
about government, states and public affairs: where power the people'. In UK democracy, a few govern and the mass of people follow. The electors cast their vote every few years at an elect time. Limited democracy - voters are giving away the right of decision making to a small number of elected representatives who make decisions on their behald What are the differences between direct and indirect democracy? Direct democracy: In ancient Athens - every qualified citizen (not women, slaves or non-Athenians)…
government should save people in a better manner. He defined democracy is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. - The distinct features of democracy are freedom and equality. - He defined it further as the rule of the free people who govern themselves either directly or through there representatives in their own interest. Why doesn't plato consider democracy? - Although freedom is of true value, democracy involves the danger of excessive freedom which could at times…
Autocracy-government in which one person has uncontrolled or unlimited authority over others; the government or power of an absolute monarch. Sentence- Egypt has had a little bit of freedom and is getting rid of autocracy but also have a chance to be come democracy. Picture- 3. Capitalism-an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means…
evaluating the characteristics can we identify the more stable form of government. The Republic style of government is characterized by the following: a senate of 300 members yielding more power per person, dictatorship for 6 months at a time and an indirect democracy. The dictator’s term of 6 months at a time was hardly enough time to learn the issues and task at hand. The short terms of office created instability in the government. Some of the characteristics of an empire include the following: senate…