There are various differences between direct democracy and representative democracy. Direct democracy originated from Athens and it engages very person in making important legislative decisions. The laws in direct democracy are passed via people’s votes. Thus the government power originates from the people such that citizenry responsibilities are considerably higher in this kind of democracy. Representative democracy originated from Rome and it engages the individuals elected to represent the public. In this democracy, people have less power, and thus authority is less equal. Laws in representative democracy are enacted by government branches and power is separated through three executive branches. The main similarity between the two is that the foundation of the two forms of democracy is the constitution. Another similarity is that people rule in both, though with different magnitudes and they both require voting (Difference Between, 2018).
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Direct or Indirect Democracy – A Personal View Essay
Democracy is described as rule of the people, by the people and for the people. This definition emphasizes the fact that democracy has the potential to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the people of a country and their voice is given importance in deciding policy issues pertaining to matters that are of importance for them. There are two types of democracies namely Direct and Indirect democracy.
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Direct democracy is when the people’s voice is heard directly and counted for example in the form of a referendum just like it did happen in Carlifornia when people voted on laws pertaining to gay marriages. Indeed the best examples of direct democracy are referendums that are held in many countries on important public mattersto help legislators come up with laws or enforce changes in an existing law. Citizens vote to determine who enters public office and recal officials who do not do their jobs.
Indirect democracyon the other hand uses a small group of officials to make decisions of importance on behalf of their constituents. An example of indirect democracy is when in the United States of America where a small number of people are elected to the congress to represent the people. In both direct and indirect democracies, the input of the people is the cornerstone of the government but the government is run in different ways as seen in the brief definitions given.
The advantages of direct democracy is that the system makes sure that there is no corruption from politicians since it is the people who directly affect the vote. The disavantage is that this type of democracy might entail the tyranny of the majority.
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Indirect democracy on the other hand assures fairness in representationof the entire country. The major disadvantage is that at times the majority of the people are not represented just like the case of Al- gore Vs Bush. Gore won the popular vote but Bush won the election.
My very honest opinion is that states should try and use both systems but depending on the issue at hand for example many states in the West could use indirect democracy because there seems to be so many issues at the ballot and they are generally placed on the ballot by organizations with enough money to pay for signatures to be gathered to get the measures on the ballot. People vote for these complicated measures without having enough knowledge to fully understand the impact of the measures. Simple issues like gay marriages are okay but complicated ones are best left to people who have some expertise on the issues.
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