representative democracy

representative democracy, political system in which citizens of a country or other political entity vote for representatives to handle legislation and otherwise rule that entity on their behalf. The elected representatives are in turn accountable to the electorate for their actions. As a form of democracy, representative democracy exists in contrast to direct democracy, in which all citizens directly vote on laws to be passed and other issues. Most modern countries are representative democracies, and, as such, they face many challenges.

History of representative democracies

Ancient Rome practiced the earliest known form of representative democracy in the Western world. The Romans called their state a republic (from the Latin respublica, meaning, literally, “a thing that belongs to the people”). During the era of the Roman Republic, which began in 509 bce, meetings were held in a public space, known as the forum, at the centre of each city within Roman territory. Citizenship was typically conferred by birth to all men if both parents were Roman citizens, though one of them, usually the mother, could be an alien with the right to contract a Roman marriage. Citizenship was also granted by naturalization and by manumission of enslaved people.

As the republic evolved, Roman government came to have four assemblies along with the Senate, which had existed in various forms for centuries. The four assemblies, or comitia, were the Comitia Curiata, drawn from men claiming affiliation with one of several tribal groups (believed to be three groups originally created by Romulus); the Comitia Centuriata, made up of military units; the Concilium Plebis, consisting of plebeians; and the Comitia Tributa, open to any citizen. Votes within these assemblies were counted by groups, variously defined, rather than by the individuals who made up these groups. Senators were chosen indirectly by the Comitia Centuriata and exercised significant power—far more than the assemblies, which ostensibly represented all Roman citizens.

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democracy: Ideal and representative democracy

By the 3rd century bce, all Roman citizens had been enfranchised, but the value of the voting right was related to wealth. Women lacked any voice in public life and had no voting rights, being at all times subject to the authority of a man, typically their father or husband. As Rome expanded across Italy, new subjects were allowed to govern their own affairs while enjoying most rights of Roman citizenship except the right to vote. Latin allies who moved to Rome permanently gained full citizenship. Allies bound to Rome by treaty did not enjoy full rights but were required to pay taxes or tribute as well as provide military service; these allies revolted against their inferior social status, leading to the Social War (90–89 bce), at the end of which full citizenship was given to all men of Italy, sans those who were enslaved, south of the Po River. The purpose of, and power wielded by, the comitia changed after the republic collapsed and was replaced by the Roman Empire in 27 bce.

This Roman form of democracy became the basis for most modern representative democracies. The Italian city-states that rose up in the centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire in western Europe, such as Venice and Florence, held elections for their leaders and called themselves republics, but they limited citizen participation to only a fraction of their male population. In medieval England, Simon de Montfort played a role in two parliaments that are considered important to the development of representative democracy. The first, in 1258, consisted of a group of barons who removed from King Henry III his unlimited powers through what was, in effect, England’s first written constitution. The second, in 1265, included citizens from English towns. During the 17th century, Parliament opposed the power of the British monarch during the civil wars of 1642−51, and its passage of the Bill of Rights in 1689 made possible the Glorious Revolution, which rendered Parliament, and not the monarch, Great Britain’s ruling power. The right to vote in Britain was expanded through a series of Reform Acts in the 19th and 20th centuries, further reinforcing Parliament’s power and underscoring the place of representative democracy in Britain.

The United States and France are republics that have played an important role in the adoption and spread of representative democracy. Following the American Revolution, the United States adopted a new constitution in 1787 that adopted principles of representative democracy, with members of the House of Representatives directly elected by citizens with the right to vote. (Members of the Senate were elected indirectly until 1913.) Voting rights expanded over time to include women, men who did not own property, and Black people, among other groups. France adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789, and the deputies that made up the short-lived National Convention were elected through universal male suffrage in 1792. Those voting rights subsequently eroded, however, until the revolution of 1848 resulted in their reinstatement; nearly a century later, suffrage was granted to women.

Institutions of a representative democracy

Modern representative democracies have come into being through a variety of political institutions, most of which made their first appearance in Europe and the United States in the 18th century. The concept of representation is itself the most important, because it enables government officials who are elected by citizens to make major decisions and establish policies. Important institutions include:

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• A written, documented constitution that specifies the process of election and the eligibility of voters as well as candidates. It also establishes how much power elected representatives can claim. A constitution can also provide for situations of direct democracy, such as referendums or recall elections.
• Free, fair, and frequent elections in which citizens can participate both as voters and as candidates.
• Freedom of expression, whereby citizens can express themselves publicly on a range of politically relevant subjects without fear of punishment.
• Independent accessible sources of political information that are not under the control of the government or any single group. The right of these sources to publish or disseminate information is protected by law.
• Freedom of association, which ensures that citizens have the right to create and be part of independent political organizations, including parties and interest groups.
• An independent judiciary that has the authority to declare decisions made by elected representatives as unconstitutional.

Types of representative democracies

More than half of the world’s countries are some form of representative democracy. Some are parliamentary constitutional monarchies, in which the head of state is a hereditary monarch and most or all political decisions and initiatives are the responsibility of an elected parliament. The United Kingdom and the Netherlands fall in this category. Countries such as Germany and India are federal parliamentary republics, which typically have a bicameral parliament. In a bicameral parliament, one of the houses (typically called the lower house) is directly elected by the country’s citizens. The other house (the upper house) is elected by representatives of individual states or regions of the country. Since the regional representatives are in turn elected by citizens of those regions, the upper house is indirectly elected by the people. Federal parliamentary republics allow for each state or region to have a say in decisions made at the national, or federal, level. The United Kingdom also has a bicameral legislature, but the upper house, the House of Lords, is not an elected body, its members taking their positions by appointment or on account of a hereditary seat.

France follows a semi-presidential republic model in which the president is a popularly (and directly) elected head of state, but the president’s cabinet is responsible to an elected legislature, the National Assembly, which in turn supports the appointment of a prime minister. In contrast, the United States is a presidential republic system, in which the president is popularly elected and can appoint a cabinet but exists separately from elected federal legislative bodies (the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives).

The two sides of a representative democracy

A representative democracy allows voters the opportunity to elect their preferred representative, who is then expected to follow the will of the electorate in making decisions. Thus citizens remove themselves from the strain of day-to-day decision making, while retaining the right to voice their opinions and to campaign or lobby for their points of view. Representatives can shape laws and policies in a way that gives the greatest benefit to the most people.

However, once elected, representatives are not legally obligated to reflect the will of the people. The lure of political influence, monetary gain, and other factors can result in accusations of corruption or undue influence and damage the integrity of an elected institution. Elected representatives may choose to not honour their promises, safe in the knowledge that their position is secure until the next election. A disconnect from political processes can also lead to apathy among citizens, reducing their incentive to vote or otherwise participate in elections and other decision-making processes. Lastly, the election of representatives can deeply polarize citizens, especially in instances in which the election result was a narrow call, or disputed, leading to doubts over a representative’s victory. In such cases, a significant portion of the population may feel unrepresented or neglected by the elected representative, resulting in citizens’ apathy or in attempts by them to have their voices heard, such as protests or strikes.