Читать книгу American Democracy in Context - Joseph A. Pika - Страница 17

The closest approximation to rule by all citizens is direct democracy, in which all of the citizens of a community gather to decide policies for that community. It was the mode of government in some ancient Greek city-states, and it still exists today in New England town meetings where all citizens come together to discuss and decide issues.⁴ Direct democracy is possible only in a small community with relatively simple issues to decide. Even a direct democracy does not exactly accomplish “rule by the citizens,” at least in the sense that all citizens contribute equally to the decision-making process. As in any group formed to accomplish assigned tasks, some people are more experienced or articulate than others, so not everyone is able to contribute equally. In fact, a direct democracy may actually express the will of only a fairly small group of leaders.

democracy Rule by the people.

direct democracy Democracy in which all of the people of a community gather to decide policies for the community.

indirect democracy Democracy in which the people do not decide policies for the community themselves but elect representatives to decide the policies.