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Unit 4 Social Institutions
Democracy
Democracy in its pure form, as practiced by the ancient Greeks, involves all citizens in self-government. This type of direct democracy is similar to that practiced in New England town meetings, where the citizens debated and voted directly on various issues. More familiar to us today is representative democracy, in which elected officials are responsible for fulfilling the wishes of the majority of citizens.
What assumptions are made in a representative democracy?
Representative democracy operates under two assumptions. The first is that realistically, not everyone in modern society can be actively involved in all political decision making. Thus, although citizens are expected to vote, most citizens are not expected to be deeply involved in politics. Second, political candidates who fail to satisfy the wishes of the majority are not expected to win reelections.
With the major two-party system of the United States, we have a “winner take all” form of representative democracy. Here, the party with the most votes wins the election. In other countries, as in Europe where third-party systems are common, political parties participate in the government to the extent that they win representation in general elections. For example, one party might win 40 percent of the vote and control 40 percent of the legisla- ture. Three other parties might take 20 percent each and control a combined 60 percent of the legislature. This proportional representation system seems to be more democratic as it tends to encourage compromises and coopera- tion in forming governments. Governments formed under this system can be fragile, however, and shifting political alliances may be able to force new elections after short periods of time.
representative democracy
a system of government that uses elected officials to fulfill majority wishes
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power cor- rupts absolutely.
Lord Acton English historian
Germany’s parliamentary system is a representative democracy.
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