Rep. democracy: what is it?

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Representative democracy is a form of democracy where citizens allow others – usually elected officials – to represent them in government processes and are not necessarily directly involved in any of the legislative or legislative processes. This form of democracy has become particularly popular in regions where the number of citizens is so large that direct representation could become overly complicated or bogged down. Some people believe that a disadvantage of representative democracy is that representatives may not adequately serve the people they are supposed to represent.

Elected representatives

In representative democracies, representatives usually serve in a chamber such as a senate, parliament, house of representatives, or similar governmental body known by another name. In a direct democracy, citizens themselves would draft bills, debate them, and vote to turn them into law. Representative democracy, on the other hand, allows citizens to elect people to assume those responsibilities and tasks for them. It might appear that this creates an unnecessary separation between people and the laws that are enacted, but the intention is that representatives receive the education and training necessary to better understand the complex requirements of their jurisdiction.

Advantages and disadvantages

Some people believe that in a representative democracy, it would be ideal for elected officials to be highly educated people who understand people’s needs and can find solutions to complicated social and governmental problems. In many cases, however, representatives are often based on beliefs and opinions shared with certain segments of the population, regardless of the education, knowledge, or problem-solving ability of those representatives. This is seen by some people as a weakness of representative democracy, as representatives may serve their own needs and preferences over those of the people. Proponents of representative democracy often emphasize the fact that citizens choose representatives through direct elections, thus ultimately helping to decide what will be passed into law.

Direct democracy

In smaller jurisdictions, one might find direct democracies instead of representative democracies. Such smaller areas might have populations small enough for the direct drafting of legislation and votes on such measures by the population. This is often seen at the city or county level where petitions are filed, signatures collected, and bills drafted by legal professionals and voted on by members of the public. In some direct democracies, representatives vote based on the wishes of the people they represent rather than their own personal wishes.

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