What are the main features of a Representative Democracy?

Posted on December 25th, 2009 by admin in representative | 3 Comments »

I can’t seem to figure out what the main features of a representative democracy are, i just keep being told the advantages and disadvantages.

You elect a number of representatives to an elected body like a Parliament or Congress or Senate, or even a local body like a town council. Each representative normally represents a geographical area (though there are some different systems which do not), such as a town, part of a town or city, or an entire region or state.

Those elected representatives then make decisions during their term in office based upon:
their pre-election promises.
their political beliefs.
their reactions to crises and unplanned or unforeseen events.

They make the decisions themselves, and do not, or should not, consult the electorate too much. They are elected to do a job, not to ask us what to do.

3 Responses

  1. frankie Says:

    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/representative%20democracy

    The main features of the representative democracy here in UK are as follows. . .

    1] the electorate are called upon every five years to vote for a member of parliament (MP)

    2] the elected MP goes to the House of Commons and is sworn in

    3] we hear nothing until the next election when we again go into the polling booth to write a X on a ballot paper with a pencil which is easily rubbed out and changed.

    4] we all think democracy here in UK is dead – well, some of us probably hope it is, but it is not. It’s just waiting there to explode.

    next elecion cMay 2010
    References :

  2. Old Cynic Says:

    You elect a number of representatives to an elected body like a Parliament or Congress or Senate, or even a local body like a town council. Each representative normally represents a geographical area (though there are some different systems which do not), such as a town, part of a town or city, or an entire region or state.

    Those elected representatives then make decisions during their term in office based upon:
    their pre-election promises.
    their political beliefs.
    their reactions to crises and unplanned or unforeseen events.

    They make the decisions themselves, and do not, or should not, consult the electorate too much. They are elected to do a job, not to ask us what to do.
    References :

  3. Marxist Says:

    Every five years you get to vote for who is going to ignore you for the next five years.
    References :

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