3. Why did the Founders choose to establish a representative democracy rather than a
“pure” or “direct” version of democracy?
democracy?
people contend that instead of representing states or other geographic areas,
representatives should reflect social, economic, or ethnic groups and perhaps even
gender groupings. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
There are a few reasons why the founders chose to establish a representative democracy over a
direct democracy.
Representative democracy gives the citizens a vote for someone to make the decisions for
them in the government. Some advantages include the fact that citizens will have more trust in
the government. The people will vote for someone they trust will make the right decisions for
them in office, giving them a comforting feeling that they can rely on the government. In
addition, the ability for society to work more as a whole is a positive factor. The citizens are able
to work with the person they elected to voice what they want in the government. As Fernando
Cardoso, a successful sociologist and politician from Brazil, stated, “Democracy is not just a
question of having a vote. It consists of strengthening each citizen’s possibility and capacity to
participate in the deliberations involved in society,” thus, supporting the fact that the people of a
democracy should be tightly connected. The founders wanted to have educated men decided for
the country rather than a clueless mob. They soon found a supporting event to their decision,
which was the French Revolution, where the French society wanted to reform their kingdoms old
monarchical system. This also reflects on the disadvantage of this form of democracy, which can
easily lead to tyranny in part of those elected to represent.
On the other hand, direct democracy gives the citizens their own vote in government to
make a more direct influence on an issue. With this form of democracy, the citizens get to
directly tell the government what they want. The vote is given to them in order to make sure the
majority choice is heard. Also, the people don’t give up their rights to someone else. Edward
Bellamy, an author and socialist, said, “The primal principle of democracy is the worth and
dignity of the individual.” However, with this type of democracy, the country may be ruled by
ignorant people. In any society, there are those people that do not have a clue about what goes on
in politics, and their vote usually does not represent the majority rule. As Thomas Jefferson
stated, “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own
government.”
Our opinion the best form of democracy is a direct one. Todd Donovan, political science
researcher from Western Washington University, supports direct democracy. He theorized that
the expanding use of direct democracy provide citizens with more opportunities to be involved in
the political process. It is better to embrace the participation of the whole group of governed
individuals than just the representatives. Donovan wrote, “One theory assumes that support is
likely to come from citizens who have a deep interest in politics and are politically active,” thus
strengthening the advantages of direct democracy. Those who are on the side-lines of the
government do not express much excitement towards their representative democracy and
eventually prefer a direct democracy. He ends his opinion by writing, “We find that younger
citizens and those who are more interested in the political process are more supportive of direct
democracy, while political disaffection has a less consistent impact.”