1) Democracy and Participation Flashcards
What is the meaning of democracy?
Government by the people
What does demos mean in Greek?
The people
What Greek word does cracy come from?
Kratos
What does Kratos mean in Greek?
Rule or power
What two core principles is democracy based upon?
Political participation and political equality
What does political participation mean?
That key political decisions are made by the people
What does political equality mean?
That each citizen has a free and equal opportunity to influence political decisions
What are the two most common forms of democracy?
Direct and representative
What’s Direct Democracy?
People make the political decisions themselves.
What’s the effectiveness of direct democracy based on?
The extent of popular participation in government
What is representative democracy?
People choose who will make decisions on their
behalf.
What’s the effectiveness of representative democracy based on?
The extent of popular control over government
Where was direct democracy first used?
In Greece/ Athens
How did the Greeks use to govern themselves?
Through a system of mass meetings
What does DD rely on?
A high level of popular participation in government
How is DD used today?
To supplement representative democracy
Give an example of direct democracy being used in our current government
In referendums
What is an example of a movement of direct democracy?
The occupy movement
Aims of the occupy movement?
Social and economic equality globally- the elimination of the richest 1%
Why is occupy a form of direct democracy?
It is leaderless and uses meetings over the globe to talk about their main issues also uses social media to spread message
