Direct Democracy

Direct democracy, sometimes called "pure democracy," is a form of democracy in which the
people themselves, rather than elected representatives, determine the laws and policies by which
they are governed.
Direct democracy is the opposite of the more common "representative democracy," under which
the people elect representatives empowered to create laws and policies. Ideally, the laws and
policies enacted by the elected representatives in a representative democracy reflect the will of
the people.
In general, the term "direct democracy" usually refers to citizens making policy and law
decisions in person, without going through representatives and legislatures

Indirect Democracy
An indirect democracy is a type of democratic government in which voters choose delegates to
create the laws of government on their behalf. A common term that is used interchangeably with
indirect democracy is representative democracy.
Indirect democracy is usually contrasted with direct democracy. In direct democracy, people
directly vote on whether a law will be passed. But in indirect democracy, people only choose the
representatives who will then make the law.
An indirect democracy can best be described as a form of democracy in which the citizens elect
government officials but following this election have little or no input as to governmental
decisions made by those officials. Thus government officials are essentially allowed to make all
decisions free from any further supervision or review by the people except by another election in
which the candidate or official is directly reviewed rather than his decisions. The actual decision
making process of government is always left in the hands of the government and thus it is
possible the decisions remain in effect long after the government official no longer holds office.
This system of democracy is considered to be indirect because it is based on a common
assumption by the citizen that (1) promises made by the officials during election will, in fact, be
the course of action the government will actually follow and (2) that the official who is elected
by the citizens will, in the course of his decisions, always reflect the values, desires and goals of
those who elected him thus requiring no further supervision by the citizen over his actions and
decisions. In order for indirect democracy to work, the government officials therefore must
always put their personal values, desires and goals subservient to those of the citizens who
elected them. If, as is more and more the case today, the officials do not do this, then indirect

democracy fails because the assumptions upon which it is based no longer are effective in
controlling government decisions.