Democracy is a system of governance that is for the people and is by the people (Beetham, 1994). In this system, power is bestowed on the eligible people who exercise it directly or through their chosen representatives. There are two main types of democracy representative democracy and direct democracy. Direct democracy is a form of democracy where governance is directly practiced by the people while representative democracy is a system of governance where the power is vested in representatives who are elected by the people. A democratic government is usually likened to a republic government which is a system of governance where power is vested in people who exercise this power through representatives elected through popular vote. A constitutional democracy is very popular in many forms of government. It involves a system where the powers, limits and structures of the government are laid out in a constitution.
In the United States, representative democracy is found in many levels of the government. The elected representatives use the power vested in them to implement the will of the majority. The concept helps improve democratic governance since it solves some of the challenges that accompany direct democracy. Some of these challenges include demagogy and issue overload. Beetham (1994) explains that the system also ensures good governance by the elected representatives since they have to ensure the will of the people is satisfied if they want to be re-elected.
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Constitutional democracy has proven to be very useful in the current democratic system of governance. It has ensured that the representatives of the people do not misuse their power for personal benefit. It has also improved the efficiency of the government since every representative has been delegated a task. Delegation of tasks ensures that all issues are attended to with equal attention. The American government is a good example of a system that includes a constitution that defines the structures of the government, their mandate and their powers. It also includes the concept of representative democracy where power is delegated to representatives such as governors, senators and the President. The concepts of the republic government are also seen through the President and governors who exercise power through other elected representatives.
References
Beetham, D. (1994). Defining and measuring democracy . London: Sage Publications.
