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Advantages and Disadvantages of Representative Democracy (Disadvantages…
Advantages and Disadvantages of Representative Democracy
Advantages
The only practical system in a large modern state, where issues are complex and often need rapid response (for example, the deployment)
Politicians form parties, bringing coherence and giving people a real choice of representative. Pressure groups form to represent different interests, promoting debate and encouraging
pluralist democracy
Reduces chances of minority rights being overridden by 'tyranny of the majority'
Elections allow people to hold representatives to account
Politicians are (in theory) better informed than the average citizen about the many issues on which they must take a view
Disadvantages
May lead to reduce participation as people choose to hand responsibility to politicians.
Parties and pressure groups are often run by elites pursuing their own agendas, not truly representing the people.
Minorities may still find themselves under- represented as politicians are more likely to follow the views of the majority to secure election
Politicians are skilful in avoiding accountability, especially as general elections are usually 5 years apart in the UK
Politicians may be corrupt and incompetent, may betray election promises or put loyalty to their party before responsibility to the electorate
Key Term
Pluralist democracy
A type of democracy in which a government makes decisions as a result of the interplay of various ideas and contrasting arguments from competing groups and organisations.
Instances where DD can be used with a RS
National Referendums
A referendum is a direct vote on a single issue, usually requiring a response to a straight YES/NO question. The UK has had only 3 nationwide referendums
Membership of the EEC 1975, EU 2016, AV 2011
The 2015 Recall of MPs Act
This allows a petition to be triggered if an MP is sentenced to be imprisoned or is suspended from the House of Commons for more than 21 days. If 10% of the eligible voters in the constituency sign the petition, a by-election is called.
Direct Democracy is thus used to hold representatives to account.