Politics & International Relations
Types of Democracy
Types of democracy include direct democracy, representative democracy, and participatory democracy. In a direct democracy, citizens directly participate in decision-making. Representative democracy involves citizens electing representatives to make decisions on their behalf. Participatory democracy emphasizes active citizen involvement in the decision-making process, often through community-based initiatives and grassroots movements.
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8 Key excerpts on "Types of Democracy"
eBook - PDF- Albert Weale(Author)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Red Globe Press(Publisher)
24 2 Forms of Democratic Government Democracy, I have suggested, is a form of government in which public policy depends in a systematic, if sometimes indirect, way upon public opinion. However, even accepting this definition, there are various ways in which democracy can be thought of. Indeed, looking at the literature on democracy, it is clear that it reflects this diversity with classifications, categories and typologies in abundance. We read of pluralist democracy, radical democracy, liberal democracy, socialist democracy, deliberative democracy, elitist democracy, equilibrium democracy, cosmopolitan democracy, and so on (for a good discussion in this mode, see Held, 1996). It may seem that the task of a democratic theory is to identify which of these differing conceptions of democracy has the greatest claim to justification or is most defensible in intellectual terms. Why do we find the theory of democracy discussed in this way, and how should we deal with the problems that this proliferation of categories raises? It is not hard to see why there should be a proliferation of conceptions of democracy. First, democracy, whatever it is, is a complex phenom-enon, and it is bound to take a variety of forms. To understand and account for this complexity requires some typology to reduce the complexity and clarify thinking. Secondly, given the favourable con-notations the term ‘democracy’ often seems to possess, it is not sur-prising that many people from different ideological persuasions have wished to identify their preferred arrangement of political life with democracy as an ideal. Whatever the merits of liberalism, socialism, capitalism, republicanism, and so on, each ideology will receive con-siderable intellectual and moral support from its being associated with a plausible account of democracy. In consequence, ideas such as ‘lib-eral democracy’, ‘social democracy’, and so on are bound to flourish.
eBook - PDF- Christopher Lord, Erika Harris(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Red Globe Press(Publisher)
Chapter 3 Varieties of Democracy Within the State In the last chapter we saw how states have provided the institu-tions of democratic rule and how nations have often provided the requisite sense of political community. If, however, politics within the state is the starting point for understanding democ-racy in Europe, it is important to note how varied are European states in their practice of democracy. Indeed we will show in the conclusion to this chapter that a further reason for wanting to investigate diversity in the meaning and practice of democracy at state level is that it presents a philosophical challenge for both aspects of democracy beyond the state we explore elsewhere in the book. Before turning to that discussion this chapter intro-duces various ways of comparing and contrasting European democracies at national level. These include the degree of direct democracy, presidential versus parliamentary forms of represen-tation, consensus versus majoritarian democracy, and, overlap-ping with that last distinction, the proportionality of electoral systems. We also discuss the extent to which democracy has been constitutionalized in different national arenas and varia-tions in the provision they make for local and regional democ-racy ‘beneath the state’. Throughout we attempt only a summary analysis of salient patterns, though, hopefully, with sufficient references to other sources for the interested reader to find out more. Direct and indirect democracy Although mass representative structures – elections, parties, par-liaments or elected chief executives – dominate the democratic politics of all states in the new Europe, all democratic systems depend on a continuous and lively interaction between represen-40
eBook - PDFGlobalization and Africa's Transition to Constitutional Rule
Socio-Political Developments in Nigeria
- Mohammed Nurudeen Akinwunmi-Othman(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
Kaldor (2008) identified two types of democratic practices. Namely, formal democracy, which was defined as: ‘The framework of rules and institutions that provide the necessary conditions in which members of a community can shape their own lives to the extent that it does not con- flict with others’. The institutions referred to in this definition include citizenship, rule of law, separation of powers, an independent judiciary capable of upholding a constitution, elected power holders, free-and-fair elections, freedom of expression and alternative sources of information, associational autonomy, and civil control over security forces. 30 Substantive democracy, on the other hand, was defined as ‘A process which has to be continually reproduced for maximising the opportunities for all individuals to shape their own lives and to participate in, and influ- ence debates about a public decision that affects them’. 31 At this point, it is important before proceeding further to review a few of the various definitions, meanings, and understandings that different schools of thought and different scholars have attributed to or provided for the term ‘democracy’. For this purpose, the following would be con- sidered. According to Diamond (1999), 32 democracy is: ‘A civilian, consti- tutional multi-party regime, with competitive elections’. Makinda and Okumin (2008) posited that democracy is ‘a way of government firmly rooted in the belief that people in any society should be free to deter- mine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems’. 33 The African Union (AU) Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance in Africa (Article 3) identifies the following principles for a system to be accepted as democratic: regular, transparent, free-and-fair elections; representative government; respect for human rights; separa- tion of powers; popular participation; and constitutional transfer of polit- ical power.
eBook - ePub- Damien Kingsbury(Author)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
Lukes sees this type of analysis of power as still relying too heavily on observable conflict. Yet power may be exercised by shaping the thoughts and desires of another, to have them act in a required manner that may not be in their interests. Such “thought control” may take “mundane forms,” such as “through the control of information, through the mass media and through the processes of socialization” (1974: 24). Lukes suggests that because grievances about a power structure may not be aired or be able to be uncovered does not necessarily imply that the grievances do not exist. If a person or group does not have access to sets of ideas that inform political ideas they may still have a grievance, or continue to experience “an undirected complaint arising out of everyday experience, a vague feeling of unease or sense of deprivation” (1974: 24). Further, power may be exercised by shaping understanding in such a way as to legitimize respective roles in the existing order of things. This legitimization comes about because individuals cannot see or imagine an alternative, because it is seen as natural and unchangeable or because it is valued as “divinely ordained and beneficial.” The absence of grievance does not, therefore, necessarily equal genuine consensus, as it may reflect the deletion of the possibility of false or manipulated consensus (Lukes 1974: 24). Lukes’ definition of power, then, closely accords with the conception of “hegemony” as articulated by Gramsci. Hegemony in this sense implies the establishment and maintenance not only of political and economic control, but also agreement by a subordinate social group or class with a dominant group or class that a prevailing state of affairs is desirable (Gramsci 1971: xii–xiv). What are regarded as social and political norms, and the processes by which they are maintained, operate at both conscious and unconscious levels. Further, they are reinforced both overtly and covertly by existing power structures, which tend to primarily serve the interests of the power brokers who exercise such power structures. Some governments can therefore be seen to act primarily in their own interests, those of their close associates and of other elites. Lukes was also critical of the focus on a methodology in which power is about individuals realizing their wills (Lukes 1974: 21). He argued that the power to control the political agenda and exclude potential issues could not be adequately analyzed unless it is seen as a function of collective forces and social arrangements.Types of Democracy
As noted, the term “democracy” is has been appropriated and used in ways that have come to not just diminish but, in some contexts, have functionally eradicated its original and previously agreed meaning. Given that democracy is such a critical idea in political discussion, it appears necessary to briefly outline some of the ways in which the term has been used. There are a number of varieties of “democracy” (as well as non-democracy), which can be identified under several broad groupings, such as constitutional democracy, liberal democracy, social democracy, grass roots democracy, people’s democracy, guided democracy, and so on. There is also the question of “pre-existing democracies,” that is, polities that have participatory methods of government but which do not fall into the general category of “democracy” in the modernist and formally institutionalized sense of the term. Such polities may include smaller social groupings such as extended kinship units or tribes in which decisions are communally taken, or in which the leader or chief is directly accountable to his or her membership.
eBook - PDFUnderstanding Democratic Politics
An Introduction
- Roland Axtmann(Author)
- 2003(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
This is normally taken to be an uncontroversial thing to say, but note how much there is to dispute or contest even in that simple sentence – for example, the idea that the people ‘rule’ in any tangible sense when in fact they take no formal part in governing. In the textbooks, representative democracy is almost always (a) separated out from other types of dem-ocracy, such as direct democracy, and (b) marked down as the modern form of democracy, the form which operates and is more or less entrenched and accepted in all countries that are regarded as ‘democratic’. There is widespread acceptance of the idea that representative democracy is democracy, and that it is thoroughly ‘democratic’ (though, as we shall see, putting representa-tion and democracy together so easily is unusual in historical terms). Representative democracy is defined pri-marily by its embodying certain institutions and practices, above all the uses of more or less free and fair elections in which citizens of a country are entitled to vote to choose those who will govern them, with their consent, for a limited period: their representatives. Of course, events like those surrounding the contest in Florida in the US presidential elec-tion of 2000 between George W. Bush and Al Gore raise many questions about what might count as ‘free and fair’ elections, but I leave such issues to one side here. Representative democracy is also defined by the roles played within it by legislatures, executives, account-able bureaucracies and political parties, among other institutions. The merits and demerits of various models of representative democracy, such as the ‘consensus’ and ‘majoritarian’ models, are debated in detail by political scientists. WHAT SHOULD REPRESENTATIVES DO? Delegates or trustees? There is also continuing debate in political science and political theory regarding the proper role of elected representatives.
eBook - PDFDigital Democracy
Issues of Theory and Practice
- Kenneth L Hacker, Jan van Dijk, Kenneth L Hacker, Jan van Dijk(Authors)
- 2000(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
A successful attempt to do this has been made by David Held in his Models of Democracy (1987). It is to be demonstrated that five of his nine ideal type models of democracy in history and a sixth one added are related to particu-lar applications of ICT in politics. Held's other four models no longer apply or they appear to bear no clear contemporary relationship to applications of ICT. (They are called classical democracy, protective democracy, developmental democracy and democratic autonomy.) This means that six models may serve as an explanatory basis for views to be observed in the actual design and use of ICT in politics. These models are ideal types. Nevertheless one can demonstrate their validity in real applications of ICT in politics. See van Dijk (1996, 1997a) for a first attempt of empirical demonstration to be extended in other studies. This demonstration and empirical support typically follow three steps on every occa-sion. First, one has to analyse the arguments about the pros and cons of the use of ICT in politics among people engaged in the design and use of political appli-cations of ICT. In these arguments they will reveal particular views on democ-racy to be listed among one or more models of democracy. This is the second step. Finally, one has to observe the favourite applications of ICT among these advocates of a particular model of democracy and see how they (suggest to) design and use these applications. T w o dimensions typify the differences in the models to be explained. First, what should be the goals and the means of democracy? Should its prime goal be opinion formation or decision making? In other words, is democracy primarily a matter of substantial input or of procedure (an output)? Secondly, should these goals be reached first of all by means of representative or direct democracy! The six models of democracy to be explained can be located in this two-dimensional analytical space (see Table 3.1).
eBook - PDF- Richard Sakwa, Anne Stevens(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Red Globe Press(Publisher)
Political decisions are made by elected representatives on behalf of the represented. How citizens express their political preferences: direct versus representative democracy Democracy, as one textbook author (Heywood, 1997, p. 66) notes, ‘links government to the people’ and adds that ‘this link can be forged in a number of ways: government of, by and for the people’. It is clear that most modern democracies in Western Europe are not governed directly by the people themselves. There are obvious practical reasons for this: many citizens do not have the time, expertise, experience and political judgement to make politi-cal decisions on complex issues themselves. In poli-tics as in all other organizations, delegation of powers to specialists (e.g. elected politicians or civil servants) can be highly beneficial for the citizens. Although there is considerable variation between individual democracies, only a handful of European constitutions allow ‘the people’ to partic-ipate directly and continuously in decisions over public policy, usually in the form of referendums (see below). All European democracies are repre-sentative democracies where elected officials usually act as ‘agents’ who ‘represent’ the interests of a ‘principal’, namely the citizens. Direct participation through referendums Nevertheless, many European democracies do allow some elements of direct popular participation in issues of public policy. The extent to which this is the case varies considerably. In Switzerland and, to a lesser extent, Italy referendums are now used regularly to decide on policy issues. In countries such as Germany or the UK, they are never or only rarely used. In many European countries, popular pressure for stronger citizen involvement in policy making through referendums has increased since the 1970s.
- Steven Wheatley(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- Hart Publishing(Publisher)
The idea of democracy rests on the twin principles of political equality and popular sovereignty: citizens participate on the basis of equality in a process of collective will-formation. There are a number of institutional arrangements that can give effect to these principles, although at the level of the state all will rely on free and fair elections to a representative assembly or parliament. Too often, the requirement to hold elections and respect the outcome becomes the sole test of democratic legitimacy, an approach that accords with theories of limited, or thin, democracy. Joseph Schumpeter, for example, concludes that the role of the citizen in a democracy is simply to determine who will hold power: democracy is the rule of the elected politician, with elections regarded as a competitive process in which political parties offer their platforms and attempt to satisfy the largest number of preferences. 27 Elections provide one mecha-nism through which citizens participate in democratic politics, enabling them to express policy preferences and sanction office holders for poor performance by removing them from office. Elections provide the clear-est, if not necessarily the most accurate, expression of the popular will, which is also expressed through other forms of political participation, including protest, demonstration, and argumentation in political will-formation. The centrality of elections to democratic systems results from their ability to provide a (relatively) clear expression of the will of the people, reflected directly in a majority of votes cast or indirectly through the allocation of a majority of seats in a representative assembly. Elections are central to majoritarian conceptions of democracy, in which legitimacy is provided by free and fair elections, and application of agreed rules for determining the identity of the candidates deemed to have ‘won’ (which is taken as a surrogate for winning the argument).
Index pages curate the most relevant extracts from our library of academic textbooks. They’ve been created using an in-house natural language model (NLM), each adding context and meaning to key research topics.
