representative democracy
Voters choose delegates
Representative democracy is a system of government in which citizens elect officials to make decisions on their behalf, rather than voting directly on laws and policies.
Most modern democracies operate this way—voters choose legislators, executives, and other representatives who then govern within constitutional limits.
The United States is a representative democracy, not a direct democracy.
Voting document
- candidatesThose seeking selection
- campaignsOrganized efforts toward goals
- electorateEligible voting body
- constituencyElectoral district's voters
nomination · debates · platforms · primaries · caucuses · endorsements · turnout · precincts
National legislative assembly
- senateLegislative governing body
- assemblyConstructing from components
- bicameralHaving two chambers
- unicameralOne legislative chamber
lawmaking · bill · statute · committee · session · quorum · speaker · floor vote
Entitlement to elect officials
- franchiseLicensed business operation
- enfranchisementGranting citizenship rights
- disenfranchisementRemoval of voting rights
- universal suffrageAll adults may vote
voter registration · absentee ballot · early voting · polling place · ballot box · voter ID · electoral roll · suffragette
Entrust authority to another
- legislatorElected maker of laws
- congressmanHouse of Representatives member
- senatorUpper chamber member
- parliamentarianRules of order specialist
minister · councillor · deputy · member of parliament · elected official · constituent services · accountability · term limits
ballot
Voting document
- candidatesThose seeking selection
- campaignsOrganized efforts toward goals
- electorateEligible voting body
constituency · nomination · debates · platforms · primaries · caucuses · endorsements · turnout · precincts · runoff
parliament
National legislative assembly
unicameral · lawmaking · bill · statute · committee · session · quorum · speaker · floor vote · filibuster
voting rights
Entitlement to elect officials
- franchiseLicensed business operation
- enfranchisementGranting citizenship rights
- disenfranchisementRemoval of voting rights
universal suffrage · voter registration · absentee ballot · early voting · polling place · ballot box · voter ID · electoral roll · suffragette · Voting Rights Act
delegate
Entrust authority to another
- legislatorElected maker of laws
- congressmanHouse of Representatives member
- senatorUpper chamber member
parliamentarian · minister · councillor · deputy · member of parliament · elected official · constituent services · accountability · term limits · recall
- democracyvote, voting, election, elections, ballot
- governmentsmonarchy, autocracy, oligarchy, tyranny, dictatorship
- political ideologiesconservatism, conservative, anarchism, liberalism, liberal
- federalismstates' rights, federal law, federal district, enumerated powers, federal agency
- Founding Principlesinalienable rights, unalienable rights, natural rights, consent of the governed, popular sovereignty
- public choicerent-seeking, logrolling, government failure, collective action, Buchanan
representative democracydirect democracy
Voters decide policy personally
participatory democracy · pure democracy · Athenian democracy
representative democracyautocracy
Rule by one
dictatorship · totalitarianism · tyranny · authoritarianism · despotism
representative democracymonarchy
Rule by crowned sovereign
absolute rule · one-man rule · hereditary rule · plutocracy · aristocracy
democracy, republic, representation, democratic, representative, representing, represented, misrepresent, undemocratic