Editing Direct democracy (section)

{{Short description|Form of democracy}}
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[[Image:Landsgemeinde Glarus 2006.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|A ''[[Landsgemeinde]]'', "cantonal assembly", in the [[canton of Glarus]] on 7 May 2006, [[Switzerland]]. ''Landsgemeinden'' are public voting gatherings, and are one of the oldest examples of direct democracy.]] 
{{Direct Democracy}}
{{Democracy}}
'''Direct democracy''' or '''pure democracy''' is a form of [[democracy]] in which the [[Election#Electorate|electorate]] directly decides on policy [[initiatives]], without [[legislator|elected representatives]] as proxies, as opposed to the [[representative democracy]] model which occurs in the majority of established democracies. The theory and practice of direct democracy and participation as its common characteristic constituted the core of the work of many theorists, philosophers, politicians, and social critics, among whom the most important are [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], [[John Stuart Mill]], and [[G. D. H. Cole|G.D.H. Cole]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the City|last=Caves|first=R. W.|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|pages=181}}</ref>