Representative democracy

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This article relates to representative democracy as it pertains to Nationstates. For more general information, please see the Wikipedia article on the subject.

Representative democracy is a form of democracy founded on the exercise of popular sovereignty by the elected representatives of the citizenry. In many representative democracies, sovereignty is not legally vested in the people, although the supremacy of the people's represenatives is an accepted political convention. In others, some other power is understood to have an actual right to function as the sovereign power but nonetheless allows the people's elected representatives to govern. However, many would deny that any nation can be a true representative democracy without effectively functioning in accordance with popular sovereignty and some would dispute that a nation can be a true representative democracy without legally acknowleding it.

Representative democracy is a theory of civics in which voters choose (normally in multi-party, secret elections) representatives to act in their interests (but usually not as their proxies) -- i.e. most systems of representative democracy do not require the people's elected representatives to vote according to the wishes of their constituents at all times and allow them to show a substantial measure of personal initiative in the face of changing circumstances.

Many representative democracies provide checks on the power of the represenative legislature, although some acknowledge the principle of parliamentary supremacy, especially in constitutional monarchies where the acts of the legislature are typically given the formal assent of the officially sovereign monarch. However, in in governmental systems which acknowledge parliamentary supremacy, parliament is normally limited by at least some sense of restraint and desire for continuity.

  • A representative democracy may provide for the recall of elected representatives when voters become dissatisfied.
  • A representative democracy may provide a measure of deliberative democracy.
  • A representative democracy may contain elements of direct democracy, although these are often either non-binding or implemented at the discretion of the legislature. For example, the Danaan Principality of Pele allows its legislature to refer questions to the populace through a referendum on an issue, with the results of the referendum becoming law. However, the legislature is under no obligation to do so on any issue. A fairly similar system operates in Ariddia.
  • Some representative democracies contain checks and balances within the legislature itself, often in the form of an Upper House capable of providing a partial check on the power of the Lower House. Recent events in Excalbia make the emergence of such a system seem likely there.