1 democracy and participation/1.1 Flashcards
what is direct democracy?
it is a form of democracy in which decisions are directly made by the public without their opinions being channelled through representatives.
what are the features of direct democracy?
People will make the decisions themselves
Referendums are held for e.g. Brexit
what is a representative democracy?
it means that voters can elect a politician to make decisions on their behalf.
what are the features of representative democracy?
representatives are chosen through fair elections for e.g. voting a MP for your constituency
direct democracy advantages
laws made will have the full support of majority of people they are more likely to be respected.
public will get input in the decisions and feel like they are making a difference
transparency between the citizens and the government
representative democracy advantages
decisions made by people more likely to be an “expert”
be held accountable for their decisions.
much more practical as usually the experts have more time to sort out issues.
disadvantages of direct democracy
Tyranny of majority 51% get what they want
Voters may be less knowledgeable and less able to make an informed decision than a representative politician.
disadvantages of representative democracy
if few people participate in the election of representatives, the representatives will not accurately reflect those they represent in parliament.
unable to remove a representative until the next election
