Direct Democratic System

A Direct Democratic System is a democratic political system in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives.

• AKA: Pure Democracy.
• Context:
  • It can include mechanisms such as Referendums, and Recall Elections.
  • It can raise questions about Voter Competence and the role of money in influencing decisions.
  • It can be propounded by a Direct Democracy Idealogue, such as: Jean Jacques Rousseau, John Stuart Mill, G.D.H. Cole, and Elon Musk.
  • …
• Example(s):
  • Swiss Direct Democracy, where citizens have extensive rights to participate in legislation.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • A Representative Democracy, where decisions are made by elected officials.
• See: Types of Democracy, Form of Government, Referendum, Recall Election.

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References

2023

• (Wikipedia, 2023) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_democracy Retrieved:2023-8-15.
  • Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives without elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently established democracies, which are representative democracies. The theory and practice of direct democracy and participation as its common characteristic was the core of work of many theorists, philosophers, politicians, and social critics, among whom the most important are Jean Jacques Rousseau, John Stuart Mill, and G.D.H. Cole.

2015

• (Wikipedia, 2015) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/direct_democracy Retrieved:2015-8-11.
  • Direct democracy (also known as pure democracy) is a form of democracy in which people decide (e.g. vote on, form consensus on) policy initiatives directly.

2010a

• (Altman, 2010) ⇒ D. Altman. (2010). “Direct Democracy Worldwide." In: Google Books.
  • NOTE: It explores the global application of direct democracy and its impact on democratic institutions.

2010b

• (Maduz, 2010) ⇒ L. Maduz. (2010). “Direct Democracy." In: Living Reviews in Democracy, css.ethz.ch.
  • NOTE: It focuses on the most important and widely used direct democratic processes through a literature review.

2005

• (Matsusaka, 2005) ⇒ J.G. Matsusaka. (2005). “Direct Democracy Works." In: Journal of Economic Perspectives, aeaweb.org.
  • NOTE: It discusses the effectiveness of direct democracy and contrasts it with representative democracy.

2004

• (Lupia & Matsusaka, 2004) ⇒ A. Lupia, and J.G. Matsusaka. (2004). “Direct Democracy: New Approaches to Old Questions." In: Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci., annualreviews.org.
  • NOTE: It examines new research related to voter competence and the role of money in direct democracy.

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