Representative democracy is a type of political system that exists in various forms and is common throughout the world. In particular, it has become the go-to system for western democratic governments.
The following article discusses what representative democracy is, the pros and cons inherent to representation, and what other alternate systems may offer.
What Is Representative Democracy?
Representative democracy is any political system in which citizens elect representatives to make decisions about policy and legislation on their behalf, rather than voting on issues directly.
The system likely originated in ancient Athens, where some forms of elected representation existed alongside their (somewhat raucous) version of direct democracy. However, it wasn’t until much later in medieval Europe that the idea began to solidify into more formal parliaments.
The idea that ruling bodies should derive their authority from the will of the people didn’t fully develop until after the enlightenment. During this period, political philosopher John Locke envisioned a system in which representatives – acting according to the will of the people – would enact policies and create laws on their behalf.
How Does Representative Democracy Work?
The United Kingdom is a good example of representative democracy as it has followed its principles since the Reform Act of 1832. Regular elections are held based on the principle of one person one vote, to elect representatives at national, regional, and local levels.
Common features of a representative democracy include:
- Regular elections where most adult citizens have a vote
- Laws and policies are made by elected officials rather than directly by citizens.
- Representatives for different levels of legislature, including local government, regional mayors and Parliament.
- Political parties, where representatives run on a slate according to the overall aims of their Party.
The relationship between citizens and their representatives is crucial to representative democracy. Representatives should ideally be responsive to the needs, desires and concerns of their constituents, to whom they are ultimately accountable.
In theory, representative democracy allows the electorate to have a say in decision-making without asking them to devote large amounts of time to the policy-making process. However, this relationship does not always function as intended, and representatives do not always act in the interests of their constituents.
It is therefore very important that representatives have a clear understanding of what the public want. That is why feedback mechanisms like public consultations can play such a key role in shaping policies, ensuring government decision-making reflects public need.
Examples of Representative Democracy
There are many examples of representative democracy across the world, with each country adapting the system according to their history and current needs..
Representative Democracy in the United Kingdom
In the UK, government has multiple branches:
- Parliament, including both the House of Commons and House of Lords.
- Government ministers including the Prime Minister.
- The judiciary.
- Local and regional government, and devolved administrations.
Parliament is the simplest to understand as an example of representative democracy. Citizens in a given constituency vote for an individual to represent them in the House of Commons as a Member of Parliament (MP). These MPs are usually members of a political party. The person elected in each constituency does not need to have a majority amongst the electorate, and instead only needs more than any other party. This system is called first past-the-post.
There are 650 constituencies in the UK, and whichever party wins in the largest number of constituencies is asked to form a government. The leader of that political party becomes the Prime Minister, and appoints the ministers of government. All legislation in the UK must be passed through this House of Commons. It is also passed through a second chamber, the House of Lords, which is a mixture of appointed positions and a small number of hereditary seats.
Ministers are responsible for creating policy, implementing laws, and managing the day-to-day operations of government. Although they have the assistance of a large number of appointed civil servants, these departments of governments are still led politically by elected representatives.
The judiciary acts as an independent body that ensures laws are applied fairly and in accordance with existing legal framework. Judges do not make laws but interpret and enforce them, ensuring that government actions comply with the law.
Local and devolved national administrations also play a key role in the UK, with both using representative democracy to manage services like education, transport and housing at the local level.
Representative Democracy in Brazil
Brazil has a system of government that is similar to the UK, in that it is split into a parliament, an executive, a judiciary and regional governments. However, unlike in the UK, the Chamber of Deputies is elected through a proportional representation system.
This differs from first-past-the-post in that the number of representatives from each political party elected is decided by how many votes each party as a whole receives across the country. Brazil therefore has far more parties represented in parliament, with 24 gaining a seat in the last election.
Brazil also has a different system for choosing their head of government. Citizens elect their President directly through a nationwide vote in a run off system, where the final candidate must receive more than 50% of the total votes cast.
The issue with this system is that it leaves less room for local and regional representation in parliament. To address this, Brazil has significant regional governance in the form of devolved legislature and local mayors.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Representative Democracy
There are both advantages and disadvantages to representative democracy as a political system. Although representative democracy comes in a variety of interpretations across the world, there are some common positives and negatives to all of them.
Advantages of Representative Democracy:
- Representative democracy is generally faster and more practical than forms of direct democracy. It is simpler to have 650 representatives vote on a given issue than organising a national consultation for every issue.
- Elected representatives are paid to know about the policy issues being discussed, and have teams at their disposal to help them research and understand a given topic. This means they often have more expertise on any given policy area than the population as a whole.
- Representative democracy does allow for officials to be held accountable to the public through regular elections. If a representative is doing a bad job at representing their constituents, they risk losing their job.
- Representatives can take advantage of a variety of tools to ensure they are reflecting the will of their constituents between election cycles. Structured consultation processes – assisted by the increasing availability of GovTech – can influence policy and keep representatives accountable.
The arguments for representative democracy are largely based around practicality, however the idea that your representatives should act according to your needs rather than your understanding is a common one. As political theorist Edmund Burke said in 1774:
“Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.”
Disadvantages of Representative Democracy:
- In a representative democracy, the public has limited influence over policy between elections. In countries like the UK, general elections may happen up to five years apart. That is a significant period of time to wait to voice support or dissent for a particular government.
- This prolonged lack of influence can lead to significant apathy, and disinterest from citizens in public life.
- Representatives have a potential for self-interest or even corruption. They may find themselves divided between the interests of their electorate and that of themselves. They are also fallible, and may be convinced by lobbyists on behalf of corporate interests that don’t serve the public.
- The Party system itself creates an inherent divided interest in each representative, where they may have to choose between the will of their constituency and that of their Party.
- Particular systems may cause unrepresentative overall outcomes. First past-the-post can mean parties that have a minority of overall support receive large majorities in government. Proportional representation can prevent specific local issues from ever being heard.
As another political theorist from the 18th century famously said:
“The people of England deceive themselves when they fancy they are free; they are so, indeed, only during the election of members of Parliament; for as soon as these are elected, they are slaves, they are nothing.”
Alternatives to Representative Democracy
There are two primary democratic alternatives to representative democracy. These are direct democracy and deliberative democracy.
Direct Democracy
Direct democracy allows citizens to have a say in policy decisions themselves, rather than relying on representatives. The most well-known method of enacting direct democracy is a referendum. Referendums allow the public to decide on a specific policy issue. Examples of recent referendums in the UK include the 2016 EU Referendum and the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum.
However, direct democracy does not inherently lead to informed decision-making or discussion. This means that some people have a lack of detailed information and struggle to make an informed choice. It also makes it easier for media sources to sway public opinion.
Deliberative Democracy
Deliberative democracy is another alternative that allows citizens to have their say without the mediation of a representative. However, unlike direct democracy, deliberative democracy prioritises lengthy discussions, community collaboration, and consent.
Deliberative democracy encourages direct participation in policy-making through meaningful deliberation and consensus-building via processes like public consultations. Other benefits of deliberative democracy include:
- More informed decision-making.
- Higher public trust.
- Stronger community cohesion.
- Greater civic participation.
- Broader public debate.
The challenge to deliberative democracy is engaging people in the process. This is particularly true where individuals may feel disconnected from the policy-making process. To address this, organisers of deliberative democracy activities often use citizen engagement platforms.
Engagement platforms – or GovTech – can be used to engage citizens, to provide in-depth information, to facilitate discussions, receive feedback and analyse responses. By using these platforms, deliberative democracy can overcome some of the inherent practical constraints in asking the public to weigh-in on policy issues.
Citizen Space is the go-to govtech platform for engaging with citizens, managing large scale government consultations and simplifying statutory processes. If you’d like to learn more about how our software streamlines public engagement and transforms decision-making, book a free demo today.
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