Democracy
Democracy is a word frequently used in British Politics. We are constantly told that we live in a democracy in Britain and that our political system is "democratic" and that nations that do not match these standards are classed as "undemocratic".
The concept of "democracy" is contestable. It is understood by many people to mean a form of government in which a significant portion of the governed society has a franchise to elect members of the governing body. Other observers would argue that a "true" democracy is a system of government that embraces a universal adult franchise. While flaws exist in all democratic systems of government, most advocates accept Churchill's dictum that contemporary democracy as we know it is the least bad of all systems of government.
What is democracy?
The popular understanding of the term "democracy" is that there are three basic forms: direct, representative and constitutional. Direct democracy is a form of government in which the right to participate in making political decisions is exercised directly by all citizens, acting under procedures of majority rule. In large states, direct or participative democracy is not possible.
Representative democracy is a form of government in which the citizens exercise the same right of participation in making political decisions, not in person but through elected representatives. However, different representative political structures can produce substantially different outcomes. There is no simple formula for democracy that can relate popular preferences to political outcomes in complex systems of government. Plato's fear that the momentary majority could implement policies that would disadvantage a minority, is always a possibility in such democratic systems.
Constitutional democracy developed to counter this possibility and is a form of representative democracy in which the powers