Meaning of representative democracy (what is it, concept and definition)

What is representative democracy:

Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a form of government where citizens exercise political power through their representatives, elected through suffrage, in free and periodic elections.

In theory, the holder of political power is the sovereign, that is, the people, but he does not exercise it by himself. In this sense, indirect democracy arises due to the difficulties that entail the effective performance of each and every citizen of the nations of millions of people as a political actor before the State, so that the figure of representativeness is created.

That is why representative democracy uses mechanisms of citizen participation such as voting to invest legitimacy for elected representatives to act and make decisions on behalf of their constituents.

As such, representative democracy is the political system most widely accepted and employed by the world's democracies and is, furthermore, the characteristic system of liberal nations.

Characteristics of representative democracy

One of the basic characteristics of this type of government is representativeness. This must be submitted to the decision of the majority, activated by democratic mechanisms to choose, among a series of candidates, those citizens who will represent the people before the different instances of the State. In this sense, there is a civil and social responsibility to exercise the right to vote so that the representative system works.

Representativeness is especially reflected at the executive level, in the presidencies, governorates and mayors, and at the legislative level, in congresses, chambers or assemblies.

Another characteristic of representative democracy is the existence of political parties made up of citizens who represent the interests and ideologies of specific sectors of the population. Political parties are legal organizations and therefore their candidates acquire their own benefits from formal organizations and legal royalties against independent candidates, for example.

Like all democracy, it is characterized by its democratic values, by guaranteeing citizen rights and well-being, and by constitutional principles and democratic models.

See also: The 7 basic characteristics of all democracy.

Examples of representative democracy

Representative democracy can be combined with other forms of government, generally republican, which is based on the division, balance and mutual control of powers, to guarantee individual liberties.

Furthermore, a representative democracy can also present a federal or centralist system. The federal system of political organization of the State is made up of political entities or states, associates and subordinates under a federal government scheme but with a certain level of autonomy in relation to its government and legislation.

In contrast, the centralist system does not grant this independence in decision-making to other entities. Representative, republican and federal democracies are, for example, those of countries like Mexico or Argentina in Latin America. Representative, republican and centralist democracies are, for example, those of countries like Chile and Brazil in Latin America.

Representative and participatory democracy

Representative or indirect democracy differs from participatory or direct democracy by its participation mechanisms.

Suffrage is the participation mechanism par excellence of representative democracy. On the other hand, referendums and plebiscites are ways of exercising direct democracy. Both representative democracy and participatory democracy share democratic values.

Semi-representative democracy

A semi-representative or mixed democracy is known as one that mixes characteristics of both representative and participatory democracies.

In this way, the people elect their representatives through suffrage, freely and periodically, and also have the possibility of actively participating in political affairs, decision-making and solving problems of public interest, by activating of constitutional participation mechanisms such as popular initiatives, referendums or plebiscites.

An example of semi-representative democracy is the Oriental Republic of Uruguay.