What is indirect democracy Class 9

Distinguish between direct and indirect democracy.

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Content: Direct Democracy Vs Indirect Democracy
Comparison Chart
Definition of Direct Democracy
Definition of Indirect Democracy
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Concept: What is Democracy?

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Hint: There are two fundamental types of democracy. The first is direct democracy, in which all qualified people participate actively in democratic decision-making. A representative democracy, on the other hand, is one in which electors retain sovereign authority but political power is exercised indirectly by elected representatives.

Complete answer:

- Indirect democracy is also known as representative democracy.- People elect officials to make laws for them in indirect democracy. This is the situation in the majority of modern countries today.- Representatives are elected in such a parliamentary democracy. Elections may be obtained by a majority vote or in another manner. In certain cases, senators have the authority to choose other representatives, such as presidents and other officials.- Governments that do not allow voters to change the government are called dictatorships or one-party states, and they are usually dictatorships or one-party states.- It is a feature of both the parliamentary and presidential systems of government and is typically used in a lower chamber, such as the House of Commons in the United Kingdom or the Lok Sabha in India, where constitutional constraints, such as an upper chamber, may limit its use.- Indirect democracy exists in many countries in the world. The major countries are India, the USA, Canada and the UK.

Note:

- Demos, which means citizens in Greek, is the root of the term democracy. - Bhutan is the world's newest democratic republic. The first democratic elections were held in 2007, and by 2011 all levels of government had been elected democratically. - India is the world's largest democracy, with one-sixth of the world's population residing there.

Democracy is that form of government in which the supreme power lies in the hands of the people. In a democratic country, every citizen has one vote, that can be cast in favour or against the government policy. Further, in a democracy, the response of the citizens acts as the foundation of the government. It can be in the form of direct democracy or indirect democracy. Direct democracy refers to the system in which citizens has the right to take part in the decision making process.

On the contrary, indirect democracy implies a democracy in which the citizens choose their representative, to actively participate in the administration of the government and act on their behalf.

In this article, you can find the important differences between direct and indirect democracy, take a read.

Content: Direct Democracy Vs Indirect Democracy

Comparison Chart
Definition
Key Differences
Conclusion

Comparison Chart

Basis for Comparison	Direct Democracy	Indirect Democracy
Meaning	Direct democracy refers to a form of government wherein citizens out rightly take part in the administration of the government.	Indirect democracy implies a democracy in which people vote for their representative, to represent them in the Parliament.
Policies	Government policies are decided by the people themselves.	People elect their representatives to take decisions on government policies.
Legislature	Whole community forms legislature.	Representatives of the winning party forms government and are a part of legislature.
Suitability	Countries whose population size is small.	Countries whose population size is large.

Definition of Direct Democracy

Direct Democracy or otherwise called pure democracy or participatory democracy, is one in which decisions relating to the laws and policies of the government are taken by the people directly. It requires direct participation from the citizens of the country in day to day decision making and administration of the government. Switzerland is one of the countries where direct democracy is prevalent.

In this form of government, every law, policy or bill is passed only when voted on by all the citizens of the country. Here, all the people of the government come together raises issues, enter into discussions to come up with a decision which is agreeable to all. So, the citizens of the country have a direct say in the formulating laws and the affairs that influence them.

Definition of Indirect Democracy

Indirect democracy or popularly called as representative democracy is the system of government wherein people choose their representatives, to represent them in the Parliament and actively participate in running the government.

So, the participation of the citizens is limited in taking important decisions and formulation of policies. India is the common example of indirect democracy.

In an indirect democracy, a politician is elected from each constituency who represents the people who voted for him in the parliament. It relies on free and fair elections wherein those who are currently ruling have a just and fair chance of losing. Hence, the elected politician can be removed from the office and made accountable for the work performed by them for the community.

The difference between direct and indirect democracy can be drawn clearly on the following grounds:

Direct democracy can be described as the system of the government, wherein the implementation of laws is possible by the general vote of all the citizens of the country. On the other hand, indirect democracy is that form of government in which the citizens of the country votes for the representatives who are empowered to decide on their behalf.
In a direct democracy the decisions relating to government policies, laws and other issues, are taken by the people. Conversely, in an indirect democracy, the people choose their representatives, takes decisions on the formulation of laws and policies.
In a direct democracy, the entire community forms legislature. As against, in an indirect democracy, the elected representatives of the winning party forms the government and are a part of the legislature.
While direct democracy is best suited for small countries, indirect democracy is good for large countries.

Conclusion

Direct democracy is a clear democracy that is appropriate for the countries where population size is less. However, it cannot be practised in a country with large population size, and where a decision has to be taken by crores of people. Due to this drawback, representative or indirect democracy came into being that overcomes the disadvantages of the direct democracy.

Indirect democracy, or representative democracy, is when citizens elect representatives to make laws for them.[1] This is what most modern countries have today.

In a democracy the ultimate power to decide significant electoral system reforms lies with the people. The key question that democrats will tend to ask of any proposed change in electoral law or the voting mechanism is: “Will it actually increase the capacity of the electorate to get rid of unsatisfactory rulers and replace them with others?” Democrats regard that basic capacity as the best protection against bad government and the abuse of power.

Systems of government which do not permit electors to change the government are not democratic, and usually are dictatorships or one-party states.

The people have the ultimate power in a democracy to decide on substantial voting system improvements. The primary question that democrats will ask of every proposed change in election legislation or voting mechanism is, "Will it genuinely strengthen the electorate's power to replace unhappy rulers with others?" Democrats believe that fundamental capability is the strongest safeguard against bad governance and abuse of power.

Government systems that do not allow electors to alter the government are not democratic and are generally dictatorships or one-party nations.