However, this policy is not particularly practical and there are several problems. One of these is the decision of who qualifies as a citizen. For example, in Britain should a citizen be considered as only those who hold a British passport or should it be considered as all those people who live in Britain and who will be affected by British laws. There is also the problem of convenience. For example, it is possible to have a meeting of a few thousand people, however, it is not possible to have a meeting of a few million people. It is also a very expensive way of running the government as direct referendum costs a lot and is also very slow. It is said that nowadays a direct democracy is more possible than previously thought due to better communications systems.
Yet despite the arguments in favour of a direct democracy, a representative democracy is far more commonplace in modern parliamentary governments and it is thought that it is likely to stay that way, at least in the immediate future.
Representative democracy is the term used for describing a means of ruling by the people through elected representatives. In Britain people elect government officials, known as MPs, who then make decisions on the citizens behalf. These representatives meet to make decisions in an assembly and all representatives have the right to vote and to speak in this assembly. In voting for a representative, power is being devolved and the responsibility is being handed over to someone else. The method by which we choose these representatives is known as elections.
As with all forms of democracy there are important implications and disadvantages with this method. Despite having passed over the responsibility to their representative, voters still have a part to play in politics. The representatives must share some of the same views as the electorate and must be answerable to them. In other words, the citizens still implement some control over the representative. This is clear when it comes to elections, for if a representative has not performed acceptably and not fulfilled the wishes of the electorate, he is unlikely to be re-voted into parliament. Due to this, representatives tend to follow the wishes of the voters and they take into account public opinion when making decisions in parliament. There is also the question of whether, when making decisions, a representative should follow the wishes of their party or their own individual conscience. It is difficult to uphold either of these methods since it is near impossible for representatives to know what the most part of their party thinks on matters. If a representative was to follow his conscience and argue for what he believes in, he risks not being re-elected because his views may not be shared by his colleagues and by the citizens for whom he is representing.
Essentially, a representative democracy brings up far more problems than that of a direct democracy. However, it is not economical to have a state run as a direct democracy and, as a consequence, most countries tend to be run under a representative democracy.
