Direct democracy
Direct democracy is any form of government based on a theory of civics in which all citizens can directly participate in the decision-making process. Such participation can take various forms:
This was first experimented with in the ancient Athenian democracy, which was governed for two centuries by a council of randomly selected representatives and a general assembly of all citizens.
The restrictive conditions for citizenship (only a very small male elite could participate) and small size of the Athens city-state minimized the logistical difficulties inherent to this form of government. Since then, however, this form of government has rarely been used (for example in some cantons of Switzerland (Landsgemeinde) and in town meetings in parts of New England). Modern mass-suffrage democracies generally rely on representatives elected by citizens.
Many political movements seek to restore some measure of direct democracy or a more deliberative democracy (based on consensus decision-making rather than simple majority rule). Such movements advocate more frequent public votes and referenda on issues, and less of the so-called "rule by politician." Collectively, these movements are referred to as advocating grassroots democracy or consensus democracy, to differentiate it from a simple direct democracy model. Another related movement is community politics which seeks to engage representatives with communities directly.
Interestingly, direct democracy models usually focus on the adversarial process of advocating and choosing one of a list of multiple choice options defined for the citizens by experts. They usually de-emphasize the deeper, and some would argue more "direct" to public concerns, deliberation required for agreement that actually stands the test of time. For this reason, direct democracy is associated more with right-wing politics or left-wing politics, as evidenced by who backs many initiatives in U.S. states that provide for them.
See also
- Direct action
- E-democracy - using electronic communications to enhance democratic processes
- Internet democracy
- Liquid Democracy
External links
- Citizens' Initiative and Referendum -- I&R Proposals and campaign resources for direct democracy such as citizens' initiative, referendum, and recall in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- Comparisons with diagrams by 'Devolve!'
- Democracy 2.0 -- A nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and effecting Pervasive Democracy and direct, nonpartisan resolution of community issues in U.S. states/territories and localities.
- Direct Democracy Manifesto
- Direct Democracy Meeting Place
- disinfopedia.org about direct democracy (or: what can be done today)
- Initiative & Referendum Institute
- The National Initiative for Democracy