We explain what the types of democracy are and the characteristics of direct, indirect and semi-direct democracy.
What are the types of democracy?
Democracy is a model of government in which sovereignty resides in the people that is, in which the group of governed individuals has the power to choose, in one way or another, who they consider suitable to hold power.
Although it was not the same as the current one, this type of government was born in ancient Greece within Athenian society. After the Middle Ages ended and after the Ancien Regime of the aristocratic monarchy fell, democracy reappeared as a consequence of the emergence of the bourgeoisie as the world's dominant class.
However, Not all forms of democracy are identical. Often, when talking about democratic processes we are not referring to exactly the same mechanisms and procedures, although They do have the same principles on public sovereignty, republican institutions and the rule of law..
Therefore, below, we will see what types of democracy are usually talked about: direct, indirect and semi-direct democracy.
Direct (or participatory) democracy
Direct democracy is one in which the widest possible range of decisions is consulted with the people through referendums, assemblies and other types of consultative mechanism, so that it is the collective who makes the decisions directly.
In them, the formation of popular participation assemblies is common, from which delegates or spokespersons emerge in charge of escalating the requests and resolutions taken locally to the authorities.
This type of democracy is the one that allows the greatest degree of closeness between the people and the government. However, has the disadvantage of multiplying bureaucratic instances and to slow down and make the decision-making process more expensive, since consultations and referendums require time, money and effort.
Indirect (or representative) democracy
In this form of democracy, The sovereignty of the nation resides in the popular representatives, elected through suffrage either direct (people elect their representatives) or indirect (people elect delegates who, in turn, elect representatives).
This democratic system works based on the consideration that not everything can be submitted to a popular consultation, at least not if you want to have an operational State in charge of more matters than the constant consultation of the popular will.
So the latter is transferred to a number of freely elected political representatives, to make the pertinent decisions, that is, to interpret and execute the will of the people.
Representative democracy can in turn be of the following types:
- Parliamentary democracy. That in which the head of government is exercised by a Prime Minister belonging to the executive wing of parliament (legislative).
- Presidential democracy. That in which the executive power falls on a president elected through direct popular suffrage, independent of the work of the legislative branch.
- Soviet democracy. That in which workers and citizens belonging to certain sectors or locations elect delegates to a council of local political power (traditionally called soviets), who in turn elect representatives to regional soviets, from which representatives emerge to high government levels. .
Semi-direct democracy
For some authors, there is a third form of democracy that combines some elements of direct and indirect, thus constituting a “semi-direct” democracy.
In this case, political power is controlled by elected rulers through popular suffrage, but most of their decisions must be supported by the people through referendums, consultations or plebiscites.
Through this type of democracies, we seek to find an intermediate option that is more efficient than direct democracy, but that does not distance the people so much from the exercise of power, which is common in representative democracies, in which a political class ends up becoming an elite. .
Other classifications
There are other ways of classifying democracy, which do not have to do with its decision-making mechanisms, but with its ideological orientation, for example. In that case, we can talk about:
- Social democracy. This is known as a version of democracy in which the State intervenes in the functioning of the economy when it considers it necessary, through regulations, social programs or economic aid, with the aim of mitigating or reducing the negative effects of capitalism, such as inequality and social injustice. In that sense, it pursues the notions of social justice, equality of opportunity and is based on universal suffrage.
- Liberal democracy. This term was initially used to refer to the resurgence of democracy after the fall of the Old Regime, and to name the new democratic republics based on economic, political and social freedom, but in recent times it is used as an alternative to social democracy, that is, as a democracy that intervenes little or not at all in economic affairs and is committed to self-regulation of market affairs, providing only a minimum legal and legal framework so that society can freely carry out its commercial and financial activities.
- constitutional monarchies. Although these are democratic models in which royalty and aristocracy are still considered, their powers and faculties are greatly limited, often restricting them to the merely symbolic, diplomatic or representative, while the political leadership of the country takes place. under the terms of a parliamentary democracy. Even so, there are certain formal and informal powers at the disposal of the kings, as stipulated in the National Constitution.
Continue with: Dictatorship
References
- “Democracy” on Wikipedia.
- “Direct democracy and indirect democracy” (video) in Educatina.
- “Models and theories about democracy” by Iván Llamazares at the University of Salamanca (Spain).
- “Types of Democracy” at Khan Academy.
- “Types of Democracy” on Wikipedia (English).
