Direct Democracy Definition World History
Direct democracy synonyms direct democracy pronunciation direct democracy translation english dictionary definition of direct democracy.
Direct democracy definition world history. Despite the author s bias against direct democracy the book is a good read for the issues personalities and organizations in the progressive period of the reform era. You get a general outline of direct democracy with respect to all its important parameters like definition etymology history characteristics structure pros and cons etc. The politics of initiative referendum and recall. The most important historical reference of direct democracy is to assembly democracy in ancient greek city states particularly athens where decisions were taken by people s assemblies of some 1 000 male citizens later people s assemblies were used in many swiss cantons and towns as well as in town meetings in some american colonies and states.
Political history of nevada questions on the ballot. Ideally the laws and policies enacted by the elected representatives should closely reflect the will of the majority of the people. A democracy in which the power to govern lies directly in the hands of the people rather than being exercised through their representatives. Direct democracy definition characteristics of direct democracy and history of direct democracy.
This differs from the majority of currently established democracies which are representative democracies the theory and practice of direct democracy and participation as its common characteristic was the core of work of many theorists philosophers politicians and social critics. All these features have been summarized for you or you can explore them in detail. Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which people decide on policy initiatives directly. History and theoretical context.
δημοκρατία dēmokratiā from dēmos people and kratos rule is a form of government in which the people have the authority to choose their governing legislation who people are and how authority is shared among them are core issues for democratic theory development and constitution cornerstones include freedom of assembly and speech inclusiveness and equality. Representative democracy is however more common worldwide. Direct democracy direct democracy countries and developmental background. Provisions for direct democratic instruments as well as their usage are distributed rather unevenly across continents countries and different levels of states.
Direct democracy is the opposite of the more common representative democracy under which the people elect representatives who are empowered to create laws and policies for them. Ancient athens is an example of direct democracy where the people themselves voted on major matters.