Claim: Representative Democracy is the best political system we have available.
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Disadvantages of a representative democracy:
-representatives aren't obligated to reflect the will of the people; they can say they'll do one thing and then do another
-political influence, monetary gain, and other corruption can potentially sway the representatives away from representing the will of the people
-citizens can feel like their vote doesn't matter and become apathetic
-representatives aren't obligated to reflect the will of the people; they can say they'll do one thing and then do another
-political influence, monetary gain, and other corruption can potentially sway the representatives away from representing the will of the people
-citizens can feel like their vote doesn't matter and become apathetic
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Some more negatives:
-representatives are generally secure in their position till the next election so they may not keep promises to their constituents in the interim
-election of reps can promote polarization
-representatives are generally secure in their position till the next election so they may not keep promises to their constituents in the interim
-election of reps can promote polarization
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Nancy Drew
I would add that it can also be a problem when reps face re-election too frequently as well though, as I've heard that many House reps spend most of their time campaigning and fundraising just so they can stay in office. If your term is too short, sometimes you don't have time to actually get things done.
Alexander Bernert
Not a problem of democracy per se but how it is set up in detail. A combination of faster representative and slower direct democratic elements appears to be working well, i.e. c.f. Switzerland.
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Benefits of a representative democracy:
-voters get to choose a representative and then can go on with their lives and not have to vote on every little thing (frees up time and energy)
-they can still write to officials and campaign if they want to get directly involved
-representatives may have knowledge and influence to be effective at serving the will of the people and doing what is best for their constituents
-voters get to choose a representative and then can go on with their lives and not have to vote on every little thing (frees up time and energy)
-they can still write to officials and campaign if they want to get directly involved
-representatives may have knowledge and influence to be effective at serving the will of the people and doing what is best for their constituents
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(behind paywall, information taken from abstract only)
Physical life quality and democracy are found to be strongly correlated for the 1970-90s
Physical life quality and democracy are found to be strongly correlated for the 1970-90s
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