Direct Democracy

Direct democracy refers to a system in which all citizens participate in political decision-making processes. This regime type was first conducted in ancient Athenian politics of Greece in 508 B.C. However, the right to direct participation was restricted to male citizens, who selected their representative officers annually. The success of Athenian democracy was due to the city-state's small population of 300,000 people. A similar political system run by citizens was exercised in the Roman Republic in 449 B.C. Citizens participated in the entire lawmaking process, and the political system lasted approximately 400 years.

Modern citizen lawmaking was established by Switzerland's “status referendum” in 1847. In the 20th century, the United Kingdom pursued the Direct Democracy Campaign, which encourages both citizens and elected representatives to launch public votes to establish new laws and public policies or to change or remove existing laws. Although the meaning of direct democracy has changed, contemporary democratic regimes uphold the principle of citizen participation in politics.

Larger populations and inefficiency render direct democracy an almost impossible ideal in contemporary politics. Defined by national boundaries, political [Page 189]entities are too large to hear and respond to all citizens. Full participation by all citizens in every political decision proves too expensive and slow for an efficient democratic system. More importantly, majority rule inevitably leads to the suppression of minority voices.

Representative democracy presents an alternative to direct democracy. Most democratic systems in the world have adopted this political system. For instance, the U.S. constitution adopts a combined form of direct and representative democracy to ensure that individuals are protected from majority rule. Under this alternative form of democracy, federal politics depend on voter election of representatives from a two-party system to act in the people's best interests. However, state statutes guarantee citizens direct participation in the lawmaking process, as well as the right to recall or veto laws. Despite this, because representative democracy does not directly represent public interests, it often leads to government corruption, disputes between political groups, and costly elections.

Avoiding the pitfalls of alternative political systems requires elected representatives to impartially pursue the collective welfare of the public. A pure direct democracy also calls for citizens who are well informed about political issues and a government that works via transparent networks. News media outlets are effective at ensuring a democratic system, as modern technologies like online voting allow citizens to directly participate in the decision-making process. Thus, the Internet, phones, and other media tools have rendered national politics more accessible to citizens.