What is indirect democracy?
Q: What is indirect democracy?
A: Indirect democracy, or representative democracy, is when citizens elect representatives to make laws for them. This is what most modern countries have today.
Q: Who has the ultimate power in a democracy?
A: In a democracy the ultimate power to decide significant electoral system reforms lies with the people.
Q: What question do democrats ask of any proposed change in electoral law or voting mechanism?
A: 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?”
Q: Why do democrats believe this capacity is important?
A: Democrats regard that basic capacity as the best protection against bad government and the abuse of power.
Q: Are systems of government which do not permit electors to change the government considered democratic?
A: Systems of government which do not permit electors to change the government are not democratic, and usually are dictatorships or one-party states.
Q: What primary question do democrats ask about changes in election legislation or voting mechanisms?
A: 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?"
