Assess the advantages of direct and representative democracy

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Assess the advantages of direct democracy

There are four main “benefits” of direct democracy, but are they really beneficial to the people who live in it?

 The first benefit is that there is no separate political class from the people – they are the ones making the laws they live under. The people act as a collective to create their own economic and social conditions. I see this as beneficial as it reduces dependence on professional politicians who can easily end up distorting public opinion, but there are still some issues with this so called benefit. A government without experts in various fields surely is not best placed to act in the public interest whereas professional politicians have a better education and expertise in crucial areas than the masses. Personally I’d be willing to accept a gulf between the people and the government in order to have highly trained individuals who work solely in politics rather than have the public try and balance their everyday lives and jobs with constant political participation.

As well as being good for society, it also greatly aids individual development, leading to a vastly more politically aware society as a whole because people have to consider each issue for themselves. People develop a deeper understanding of the society they live in, both the politics that affect it at the present and the type of politics that would need to effect to bring about the formation of society they want. It’s very hard to find any drawbacks of this element of direct democracy. The only possible argument against it I can think of would be that “ignorance is bliss” as Thomas Gray said. In some situations, possibly to do with the current dilapidated credit market or volatile oil prices, it may be kinder to let some people carry on with their lives rather than worry them with the tough situations the real world faces.

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It is a true government of the people, not one merely acting in the name of. Undeniably this is beneficial in the sense that it’s the only pure, genuine form of democracy and therefore, in principle, improves the democratic process and strengthens popular participation in the governed area. But despite this, direct democracy has drawbacks in the sense that it’s only feasible in small areas and wouldn’t work on a national scale as it comprises so much personal interaction to make decisions. What is the use in having a perfectly democratic nation if all matters of public interest are solved ...

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