Direct democracy refers to forms of direct participation by citizens in political decision making, such as citizen assemblies, referenda, and initiatives, in contrast to indirect or representative democracy.
Facts
Origin Year508 BCE marks Cleisthenes' reforms in Athens, which reorganised the citizen body by residence rather than kinship and created the Council of Five Hundred, extending direct political participation to the citizen assembly for the first time and establishing the model the term is still built on. Athens had earlier reformers; Solon's constitution dates to 594 BCE, but Solon's changes eased debt bondage and broadened eligibility for office without creating the assembly-centred direct participation Cleisthenes' reforms did. Founding ContextPracticed in its purest early form in Athens from the fifth century BCE, where eligible male citizens voted directly on legislation and policy in the Assembly rather than through elected representatives; the Swiss cantons preserved a continuous tradition of direct democratic assembly and referendum from the medieval period onward. 1 Learn More
Direct Democracy: Citizens As Legislators
Direct democracy lets citizens decide questions of law themselves, through referenda, initiatives or open assemblies, rather than delegating that decision permanently to elected representatives. It is the oldest form of self-government on record, practiced in the assemblies of ancient Athens centuries before anyone wrote a theory defending it.
The Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau gave direct democracy its most influential modern defense in "The Social Contract" (1762), arguing that sovereignty cannot be represented, only exercised directly by the people who hold it. His argument shaped how Switzerland, still the country most associated with direct democracy in practice, built a political culture around frequent binding referenda at every level of government.
No modern state governs by direct democracy alone; even Switzerland pairs its referenda with an elected federal government and parliament that handle day to day administration. Direct democracy today survives mainly as a supplement to representative government, most visibly the referendum, used to settle specific constitutional or high stakes questions that citizens are asked to decide themselves rather than leave entirely to their representatives.
Direct Democracy
Filter Results1 entry
Connections
Advocated By
The Social Contract argues legitimate sovereignty rests in the direct, ongoing assembly of citizens rather than in elected representatives.
Source Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Associated With
United States, Countries US states incorporate direct-democracy elements through statewide referendums and citizen initiatives.
Source EBSCO Research Starters: Direct Democracy
Has Article
Practiced By
Source Direct democracy (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Direct Democracy (Britannica)
EBSCO Research Starters: Direct Democracy
EBSCO Information Servicesopening paragraphQuote, opening paragraph
Direct democracy is a system of government in which each citizen of a society has an equal vote.
Recall Election (Wikipedia)
Direct democracy (Wikipedia)
Practiced By: Switzerland, Article textQuote, Practiced By: Switzerland, Article text
This form of direct democracy effectively grants the voting public a veto on laws adopted by the elected legislature, as in Switzerland.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyAdvocated By: Jean-Jacques RousseauView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.