Question: Compare And Contrast Direct
And Indirect Democracy
To
start with, democracy is one of the basic concepts of government which deal
mainly with peoples mind. Democracy may be defined as a system of government in
which all qualified adult citizens share the supreme power directly or through
their elected representatives. It is a government which is derived from public
opinion and is accountable to it. Abraham Lincoln, whose definition of democracy
has become axiomatic defined it as “the Government of the people, by the people
and for the people. The term democracy has in another occasion been described
as “government by consent of the governed” i.e. government with the approval of
the people being governed. We have about four types of democracy or more to
mention.
1. Direct/Classical Democracy
2. Modern /Representative /Indirect Democracy
3. Liberal/ Constitutional Democracy
4. Social or Economic Democracy. The two
main types of democracy are direct and indirect democracy which is our main
focus.
DIRECT DEMOCRACY
This
is a form of democracy where the right to make political decisions is exercised
directly by the whole body of citizens, action under procedures of majority
rule. It is the types where the entire citizen attends the Assembly and take
part in decision making in order to govern the state or the society. The type
of democracy was practiced in ancient small Greek city states.
The beginning of the idea of
democracy is associated with the city states of ancient Greek. The word itself
is derived from the Greek “demokratia” from demos, “the people and Kratos,
“rule” Greek was direct the democracy in which the whole citizen body formed
the legislature and in which the representative system was unknown. This was
possible because of limited size of the ancient state which was generally
confined to a city and its rural surroundings. Further more, women were
disenfranchised and there were numerous classes of slaves who enjoyed no right
at all. Ancient democracy recognized the equality of citizens, but failed to
develop a general conception of the equality of mankind.Greek democracy was a brief
historical episode which had little direct influence on the theory or practice
of modern democratic states.
INDIRECT DEMOCRACY
Citizen exercise the right to make
political decisions, not in person, but through representatives chosen by and
responsible to them. In this type of democracy, the citizens through election
elect those who will represent and govern the state on their behalf. This type
of democracy replaced the direct democracy in modern states as it is no more
possible for everybody to gather in one place in order to take decisions to
govern the state as a result of the large size and population of the modern
states. In Nigeria here, we practice
indirect democracy, we elect people that represent us at the state and federal
level in the government.
Some factors that led to the
development of indirect modern democracy
1. Religion
2. Disintegration of state Authority
3. Historical writings
4. The American Revolution
5. The French revolution
6. The decline of colonialism and the rise
of Nationalism
In Conclusion the direct democracy,
the form of democracy where the right of every citizen is exercised directly to
make political decisions but it is Government by few majorities. While indirect
democracy is Government where by people elect representatives who will
represent them. This body elected make the law and pass to them. In this system,
sometime led to abuse of power, the citizen represent they decide on what to
do. These types of democracy replace the direct in modern states as it is no
more possible for everybody to gather in one place in order to take decisions
to govern the state as a result of the large size and population of the people
in the modern state.