Editing Democracy (section)

===Basic forms===
Several variants of democracy exist, but there are two basic forms, both of which concern how the whole body of all eligible citizens executes its will. One form of democracy is [[direct democracy]], in which all eligible citizens have active participation in the political decision making, for example voting on policy initiatives directly.<ref>{{cite book|author=Budge, Ian|chapter=Direct democracy|editor=Clarke, Paul A.B.|editor2=Foweraker, Joe|title=Encyclopedia of Political Thought|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2001|isbn=978-0-415-19396-2|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=srzDCqnZkfUC&pg=PA224}}</ref> In most modern democracies, the whole body of eligible citizens remain the sovereign power but political power is exercised indirectly through elected representatives; this is called a [[representative democracy]].

====Direct====
{{Main|Direct democracy}}
[[File:Landsgemeinde Glarus, 2009.jpg|thumb|A [[Landsgemeinde]] (in 2009) of the [[canton of Glarus]], an example of direct democracy in Switzerland]]
[[File:Swiss voting material.jpg|thumb|In [[Voting in Switzerland|Switzerland]], without needing to register, every citizen receives [[ballot papers]] and information brochures for each vote (and can send it back by post). Switzerland has a [[direct democracy]] system and votes (and elections) are organised about four times a year; here, to [[Bern#Politics|Berne]]'s citizen in November 2008 about 5 national, 2 cantonal, 4 municipal referendums, and 2 elections (government and parliament of the City of Berne) to take care of at the same time.]]

Direct democracy is a political system where the citizens participate in the decision-making personally, contrary to relying on intermediaries or representatives. A direct democracy gives the voting population the power to:
* Change constitutional laws,
* Put forth [[Popular initiative|initiative]]s, [[referendum]]s and suggestions for laws

Within modern-day representative governments, certain electoral tools like referendums, citizens' initiatives and [[recall election]]s are referred to as forms of direct democracy.<ref>Beramendi, Virginia, and Jennifer Somalie. Angeyo. ''Direct Democracy: The International Idea Handbook''. Stockholm, Sweden: International IDEA, 2008. Print.</ref> However, some advocates of direct democracy argue for local assemblies of face-to-face discussion. Direct democracy as a government system currently exists in the [[Switzerland|Swiss]] [[Cantons of Switzerland|cantons]] of [[Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden|Appenzell Innerrhoden]] and [[Canton of Glarus|Glarus]],<ref name="Golay" /> the [[Rebel Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities]],<ref>Niels Barmeyer, ''Developing Zapatista Autonomy'', Chapter Three: Who is Running the Show? The Workings of Zapatista Government.</ref> communities affiliated with the [[CIPO-RFM]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=Teaching Rebellion: Stories from the Grassroots Mobilization in Oaxaca|last=Denham|first=Diana|year=2008}}</ref> the [[Bolivia]]n city councils of [[Fejuve|FEJUVE]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=Dispersing Power: Social Movements as Anti-State Forces in Latin America|last=Zibechi|first=Raul|year=2013}}</ref> and Kurdish cantons of [[Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria|Rojava]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rudaw.net/english/opinion/29012015|title=A Very Different Ideology in the Middle East|publisher=Rudaw}}</ref>

=====Semi-direct=====
Some modern democracies that are predominantly representative in nature also heavily rely upon forms of political action that are directly democratic. These democracies, which combine elements of representative democracy and direct democracy, are termed ''semi-direct democracies'' or ''participatory democracies''. Examples include Switzerland and some [[U.S. state]]s, where frequent use is made of [[referendum]]s and [[initiatives]].

The [[Swiss confederation]] is a semi-direct democracy.<ref name="Golay" /> At the federal level, citizens can propose changes to the constitution ([[federal popular initiative]]) or ask for a [[Optional referendum|referendum]] to be held on any law voted by the [[Federal Assembly (Switzerland)|parliament]].<ref name="Golay" /> Between January 1995 and June 2005, Swiss citizens voted 31 times, to answer 103 questions (during the same period, French citizens participated in only two referendums).<ref name="Golay" /> Although in the past 120 years less than 250 initiatives have been put to referendum.<ref>{{Citation|last=Serdült|first=Uwe|title=Referendums in Switzerland|date=2014|url=https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137314703_4|work=Referendums Around the World: The Continued Growth of Direct Democracy|pages=65–121|editor-last=Qvortrup|editor-first=Matt|place=London|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|doi=10.1057/9781137314703_4|isbn=978-1-137-31470-3|access-date=2022-06-17}}</ref>

Examples include the extensive use of [[referendum]]s in the US state of [[California]], which is a state that has more than 20 million voters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3985561|title=Article on direct democracy by Imraan Buccus|publisher=Themercury.co.za|access-date=22 August 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117121519/http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3985561|archive-date=17 January 2010}}</ref>

In [[New England]], [[town meeting]]s are often used, especially in rural areas, to manage local government. This creates a hybrid form of government, with a local [[direct democracy]] and a representative state government. For example, most [[Vermont]] towns hold annual town meetings in March in which town officers are elected, budgets for the town and schools are voted on, and citizens have the opportunity to speak and be heard on political matters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sec.state.vt.us/townmeeting/citizens_guide.html|title=A Citizen's Guide To Vermont Town Meeting|date=July 2008|access-date=12 October 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805023214/http://www.sec.state.vt.us/TownMeeting/citizens_guide.html|archive-date=5 August 2012}}</ref>

=====Lot system=====
The use of a lot system, a characteristic of [[Athenian democracy]], is a feature of some versions of direct democracies. In this system, important governmental and administrative tasks are performed by citizens picked from a lottery.<ref name ="Manin 1997">{{cite book|author=Manin, Bernard|title=Principles of Representative Government|year=1997|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=8–11|doi=10.1017/CBO9780511659935 |isbn=978-0-521-45891-7 |s2cid=153766786|url=http://www.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam031/96019710.html}}</ref>

====Representative====
{{Main|Representative democracy}}

Representative democracy involves the election of government officials by the people being represented. If the head of state is also [[Democratically elected government|democratically elected]] then it is called a democratic [[republic]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/REV/RADICAL.HTM|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990203212816/http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/REV/RADICAL.HTM|archive-date=3 February 1999|title=Radical Revolution – The Thermidorean Reaction|publisher=Wsu.edu|date=6 June 1999|access-date=22 August 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> The most common mechanisms involve election of the candidate with a majority or a [[Plurality (voting)|plurality]] of the votes. Most western countries have representative systems.<ref name="Golay" />

Representatives may be elected or become diplomatic representatives by a particular district (or [[constituency]]), or represent the entire electorate through [[Proportional representation|proportional]] systems, with some using a combination of the two. Some representative democracies also incorporate elements of direct democracy, such as [[referendum]]s. A characteristic of representative democracy is that while the representatives are elected by the people to act in the people's interest, they retain the freedom to exercise their own judgement as how best to do so. Such reasons have driven criticism upon representative democracy,<ref>{{cite book|last=Köchler|first=Hans|title=The Crisis of Representative Democracy|publisher=Frankfurt/M., Bern, New York|isbn=978-3-8204-8843-2|year=1987}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Urbinati|first=Nadia|title=Representative Democracy: Principles and Genealogy|isbn=978-0-226-84279-0|date=1 October 2008|chapter=2|publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref> pointing out the contradictions of representation mechanisms with democracy<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fenichel Pitkin|first=Hanna|s2cid=154048078|title=Representation and democracy: uneasy alliance|journal=[[Scandinavian Political Studies]]|volume=27|issue=3|pages=335–42|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9477.2004.00109.x|date=September 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Aristotle|title=Politics|volume=Book 4|chapter=Ch. 9}}</ref>

=====Parliamentary=====
{{Main|Parliamentary system}}
[[File:Houses.of.parliament.overall.arp.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Palace of Westminster]] in [[London]], United Kingdom. The [[Westminster system]] originates from the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Houses of Parliament]].]]
Parliamentary democracy is a representative democracy where government is appointed by or can be dismissed by, representatives as opposed to a "presidential rule" wherein the president is both head of state and the head of government and is elected by the voters. Under a parliamentary democracy, government is exercised by delegation to an executive ministry and subject to ongoing review, checks and balances by the legislative parliament elected by the people.<ref>[[Keen, Benjamin]], A History of Latin America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1980.</ref><ref>Kuykendall, Ralph, Hawaii: A History. New York: Prentice Hall, 1948.</ref><ref>Brown, Charles H., The Correspondents' War. New York: [[Charles Scribner's Sons]], 1967.</ref><ref>Taussig, Capt. J. K., "Experiences during the Boxer Rebellion," in Quarterdeck and Fo'c'sle. Chicago: Rand McNally & Company, 1963</ref>

In a parliamentary system, the prime minister may be dismissed by the legislature at any point in time for not meeting the expectations of the legislature. This is done through a vote of no confidence where the legislature decides whether or not to remove the prime minister from office with majority support for dismissal.<ref name="O'Neil, Patrick H 2010" /> In some countries, the prime minister can also call an election at any point in time, typically when the prime minister believes that they are in good favour with the public as to get re-elected. In other parliamentary democracies, extra elections are virtually never held, a minority government being preferred until the next ordinary elections. An important feature of the parliamentary democracy is the concept of the "[[loyal opposition]]". The essence of the concept is that the second largest political party (or opposition) opposes the governing party (or coalition), while still remaining loyal to the state and its democratic principles.

=====Presidential=====
{{Main|Presidential system}}

Presidential democracy is a system where the public elects the president through an election. The president serves as both the head of state and head of government controlling most of the executive powers. The president serves for a specific term and cannot exceed that amount of time. The legislature often has limited ability to remove a president from office. Elections typically have a fixed date and are not easily changed. The president has direct control over the cabinet, specifically appointing the cabinet members.<ref name="O'Neil, Patrick H 2010" />

The executive usually has the responsibility to execute or implement legislation and may have the limited legislative powers, such as a veto. However, a legislative branch passes legislation and budgets. This provides some measure of [[separation of powers]]. In consequence, however, the president and the legislature may end up in the control of separate parties, allowing one to block the other and thereby interfere with the orderly operation of the state. This may be the reason why presidential democracy is not very common outside the Americas, Africa, and Central and Southeast Asia.<ref name="O'Neil, Patrick H 2010" />

A [[semi-presidential system]] is a system of democracy in which the government includes both a prime minister and a president. The particular powers held by the prime minister and president vary by country.<ref name="O'Neil, Patrick H 2010" />