Date: 2020
Type: Contribution to book
How democratic elections differ
Richard ROSE (ed.), How referendums challenge European democracy : Brexit and beyond, Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics, London : Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, pp. 1-18
ROSE, Richard, How democratic elections differ, in Richard ROSE (ed.), How referendums challenge European democracy : Brexit and beyond, Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics, London : Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, pp. 1-18
- https://hdl.handle.net/1814/67109
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
When democracy is defined as government by the people, for the people and of the people, a great deal of ambiguity is packed into eleven words. Government by the people is literally impossible in any political system larger than a village. A representative democracy can be described as government for the people because members of the parliament are accountable to citizens in a free and fair election. In contemporary Europe, the most common form of democracy is representative democracy. However, if representatives are very disproportionately male and middle-class and belong to one race in a multiracial society, their claim to be of the people is incorrect in the sociological sense. A referendum is of the people and by the people because all citizens can participate in directly deciding whether a policy should be adopted or rejected.
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/67109
Full-text via DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-44117-3
ISBN: 9783030441166; 9783030441173
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
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