Representative Democracy

Created by: aaronwraith161999
Created on: 14-11-17 11:38


	Representative Democracy
	Advantages They have the power to mediate between both the majority and minority, which direct democracy simply cannot do. The representatives are less likely to be swayed by charismatic individuals for making policies or appeals etc. The representatives are directly accountable to the electorate, which would be difficult to do with direct democracy as it raises the question; who is actually responsible?	Disadvantages It doesn't accept the full encompassing voice of the people as they are elected through a majority of seats in Parliament. There can be deadlock and delay, particularly on national matters and, sometimes, on even the minimal acts. There is less legitimacy as the people aren't fully deciding. Whilst they elect representative, they aren't increasing their legitimacy simply through voting. This has a weaker legitimacy in comparison.
	Evaluation Representative democracy is able to take into account people's lives and times and we are able to elect representatives to represent us in the House of Commons. In turn, this still gives the people some power. However, the people are limited in their power simply because they aren't making the decisions on laws and how to govern the country themselves. In conclusion, representative democracy is slightly better than direct democracy as it still enables us to live our lives and carry out rather menial tasks.

Representative Democracy

Advantages

They have the power to mediate between both the majority and minority, which direct democracy simply cannot do.
The representatives are less likely to be swayed by charismatic individuals for making policies or appeals etc.
The representatives are directly accountable to the electorate, which would be difficult to do with direct democracy as it raises the question; who is actually responsible?

Disadvantages

It doesn't accept the full encompassing voice of the people as they are elected through a majority of seats in Parliament.
There can be deadlock and delay, particularly on national matters and, sometimes, on even the minimal acts.
There is less legitimacy as the people aren't fully deciding. Whilst they elect representative, they aren't increasing their legitimacy simply through voting. This has a weaker legitimacy in comparison.

Evaluation

Representative democracy is able to take into account people's lives and times and we are able to elect representatives to represent us in the House of Commons. In turn, this still gives the people some power. However, the people are limited in their power simply because they aren't making the decisions on laws and how to govern the country themselves. In conclusion, representative democracy is slightly better than direct democracy as it still enables us to live our lives and carry out rather menial tasks.

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Representative Democracy