Commentary By Karrie “The Puck!” #6 – Democrats Are Not Democratic

Democrats Are Not Democratic

Commentary #6 by Karrie “The Puck!”

So, I recently started college, and one of the classes I take in college is political science. Below this paragraph is the first assignment I was supposed to write, when I noticed there is not much about Republican topics, just words with democracy behind it. It makes me wonder what happened to the republic. America is supposed to be a republic not a democracy but the only thing I am learning in college is democracy and nothing about republics. We ARE a republic IF we can keep it!

Democracy began in Ancient Greece in fifth century B.C., meaning rule by the people. It allows certain citizens to gather and make binding decisions together about the rule of the people. Our constitution is called democratic because power is in the hands not of the people. There is no consensus on what makes democracy, but there are universal values which are commonly agreed upon, including equality of citizens, political freedom, free and fair elections, civil and human rights, and access to justice, political freedom, free and fair elections, civil and human rights, and access to justice.

Representative democracy is an electoral system where citizens who are eligible to vote for a representative to make decisions on their behalf in parliament, The House of Commons, or Congress, or whatEVER you want to call it. I feel it poignant that a gathering of baboons is called a “Congress!”

Arguments in favor of having representatives include that it is more practical in larger populations and that decisions or and issues that need addressing urgently can be dealt with quicker by a smaller number of representatives. The representatives should be well informed (if not better) than the public and should have a good understanding and education on political matters. In addition, having representatives reduces the chance of minorities having their rights infringed on by majorities. Three wolves and a sheep and all that sort of thing.

However, there may be flaws in Representative Democracy relating to electing representatives. Once elected the representative may not vote in the way that his electorate was expecting. There is also a risk of corruption and decision making for one’s own advantage ie Robert Menendez aka “Gold Bars Menendez. And there is a risk of having a large population who pay little attention to what is happening because they leave the responsibility to their representative.

Direct democracy is where the citizens vote for intended policies directly. There are currently no countries which have pure direct democracy governing (although some states in the USA and cantons in Switzerland have direct democracy for local issues.) The last country that had such a government was Ancient Greece which is why it is now “ancient.” However, Switzerland has a semi-direct democracy, whereby the country has elected representatives but also has direct participation in the form of regular referendums.

There are many advantages to direct democracy. Every vote is equal, and victory is won on a majority vote, meaning that every individual has a personal stake in participating.

Information from the government is readily available, meaning more transparency and accountability and less opportunity for corruption. In addition, citizens should have a better understanding of policies and legislation at local and national levels.

Direct democracy has negatives too, such as the excessive cost and time involved in organizing and actioning referendums and the costs incurred from citizens having to partake (missing work etc.). As well as the time needed by citizens to keep up to date with all relevant information, the citizens also want to HAVE to participate and to be interested in what is happening. Time-sensitive decisions would also have to be voted upon, meaning that by the time the vote has been organized and actioned the matter may have passed (such as war or threat decisions). Majority vote results also do not consider the minority’s rights, meaning that civil and human rights of minority groups could be infringed on.

A referendum is a direct vote for an issue or policy, there are two common types of referendum, Mandatory and optional. Mandatory referendums, also called binding referendums, are referendums that are held due to being included in legislation or constitution and the outcome of the vote is normally binding so the government must implement the result. An optional referendum, also called advisory, is a referendum in which the result is not binding, and the government can overturn or not implement it. Some local referendums in Britain are required by law as they have been put into legislation. As described, referendums in the United Kingdom have been few and held irregularly, as such they can be considered not familiar practice for the electorate who are expected to decide and vote in them.

A referendum voted on by an electorate with little understanding and education of the political structure and implications will surely be a referendum based on emotions instead of knowledge. Dicey in 1890 had concerns about if the public would make the right decisions [a]n appeal in matters of legislation from Parliament to the people is appeal from knowledge to ignorance. However, by having regular referendums and a direct effect on parliamentary matters mean that an individual becomes more attuned and educated on political matters, Alex Thomson of the Clarion newspaper certainly thought so, he argued in a Clarion Pamphlet in 1900 that representative government was not true democracy and that the way to true Democracy will never be found through Delegacy. The only safe way is through direct legislation through the Referendum and Initiative. and that those referendums would serve to educate the people in self-government and ripen them for progress.

It is also worth considering the views of Higley and McAllister’s in their journal article Elite division and voter confusion they posited that asking voters to make decisions that require just a yes or no to sophisticated government legislation of policy, allows those in power to make claims that could be considered overly simplified and deliberately misleading.

There have been many proponents for the regular use of referendums including Tony Benn, in 1968 Benn spoke at the Welsh Council of labor Annual conference, he advocated for a series of changes to take place, including a more open government, more awareness from government about society and more participation from the public as the five-yearly cross on the ballot paper is just not going to be enough. Inevitably, we shall have to look at the objections to holding a referendum and see if they are valid.

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