Ryan Velarde

Period 4

9-20-05

Indirect and Direct Democracy

Indirect and direct democracies are both forms of democracy, but they have some major differences. Indirect democracy involves representatives, but direct democracy gives the power to the people. In indirect democracies people are represented by representatives who are the people that vote on things and rights. This is the form of government that Greece had thousands of years ago. In direct democracy the power is with the people. The people get to represent themselves and vote on things themselves. They do not have to let representatives make the decisions. This is the kind of government the United States has.

In indirect democracy the people do not have any power or say in their future like the people in a direct democracy do. Because of this I think that direct democracy is more superior and I like direct democracy better. In indirect democracy the people do not control the laws and things like that in their future so they just have to hope that the representatives vote on something good and that it is what the people want. The U.S. has a direct democracy because the people get to vote on laws and who they want to be president, senator, mayor, and other positions in the government. If the U.S. did not have a direct democracy the United States would be a lot different and also be run a lot different. The people of the U.S. would not have nearly as much freedom or rights. There would also probably be more riots and violence because the people would not be happy with the way the country is run. The U.S. might be more like ancient Greece and have new dynasties every couple hundred years.

I like direct democracy better because people are all around happier and they have more power and freedom with there life.

Response to Jordan Backman on Indirect and Direct Democracy

I agree with Jordan Backman that direct democracy is better. I believe that direct democracy is better than indirect democracy because the power is with the people. The people get to directly vote on the laws. In indirect democracy the people indirectly vote because they vote on the representatives that are going to represent them. The representatives they choose and think are best suited for their country or state vote on the laws the people will have to follow. Although, I think direct democracy is better they both have their flaws.

I think direct democracy is better because the people decide on the laws they will have to follow. This is not a flawless and perfect system of government, but I think the people would be happier. Not every person would vote for whom they believe is best. Some people would be influenced by people they know. In direct democracy if there was a law about outlawing tobacco the tobacco companies would find someway to influence the voters to vote not to outlaw tobacco. They might put out television commercials or offer to lower the price of tobacco if it is not outlawed. Then aside from all the people that the tobacco companies influenced there would be people such as the ones that use tobacco that would vote to not outlaw tobacco. The direct system would not be perfect, but at least the people could blame themselves for the mistakes they made rather than blaming the government. It would be hard to have every person vote, but they could send out emails.

Indirect democracy also has its flaws. If there was a law to outlaw tobacco, there might not be any tobacco users that are representatives, but the tobacco companies could bribe the representatives to vote against that law.

There is no perfect government, but I like the direct democracy better because the people have the power to make their life better and make the right decisions or to make the wrong decisions and mess their life up.