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Representation (Political Science)
One entity seeking to act on behalf of another. There are two types of representation in a democracy: (1) representative democracy, where legislators are elected by constituents who hold a duty to act in the best interest of their constituency, and (2) direct democracy, where legislators act in direct accordance to the wishes of their constituents. The United States practices representative democracy at the federal level, evidenced in the election of the president and members of both houses of Congress. On the other hand, at the state and local levels, measures such as the initiative, referendum, and recall are examples of direct democracy.