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Advantages Of Representative Democracy

Decent Essays

Government and order is what separates us from savages which is if we are going to pick a form of government we should choose one that benefits many and is representative of the population. Direct democracy is where the people directly vote on policy initiatives meanwhile representative government is where we elect people to represent us in government and they vote based on our interest. I believe that representative government is the best form of government because people choose the people in power and are represented adequately most of the time. Direct democracy can only work in small states in my opinion and representative’s government could be used in small, medium or large states due to the population being represented regardless of …show more content…

Bernard Manin in his book “The Principles of Representative Government” is defining the key features of modern democratic institutions. He talks about 4 observed principles of representative government in which two I feel resonate more to me are the important are “those who govern are appointed by election at regular intervals” and “those who are governed may give expression to their opinion and political wishes without being subject to control of those who govern” (p.6) The reason representative democracy is so great is because the people elect representatives at certain intervals as well as the people can critique the state of government as they are the ones who government is supposed to benefit. I also like how he says that “decision making of those who govern retain a degree of independence from the wishes of the electorate,” as politicians should have discretion on small matters as they should serve as they feel people would want them to but the issue is that power tend to corrupt people and they could drift away from the electorate. I see this as people understanding politicians will not always do everything we want but we have a mutual agreement that everything is for our best interest. Furthermore, another reason I prefer representative government everywhere regardless of population size is because the decisions of government should be made by elected politicians and intellectuals in order to receive the best results.

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