Originally Posted by
NE_Pilot
A democracy cannot be undemocratic and remain a democracy. Either, it is a democracy and it’s elections are democratic or not. If you believe in such a thing as “indirect” democracy and believe that it applies to the US, then it would be perfectly democratic that the President could be elected without a majority of the votes.
Unless, of course, an “indirect” democracy is in fact not democratic by its nature. A “direct” democracy is the only type of democracy because that is what democracy is, once you add in representatives, etc. you are no longer a democracy.
The essence of government is law. Who decides what the laws are is a good way in figuring out what type of government exists. If the people vote on all the laws you are a democracy. Electing officials, alone, does not make a democracy. Generally, a government in which legislators are elected, who then make laws, is referred to as a republic.
Representative democracy, also known as
indirect democracy or
representative government, is a
type of democracy founded on the principle of elected officials representing a group of people, as opposed to
direct democracy.
[1] Nearly all modern
Western-style democracies are types of representative democracies; for example, the
United Kingdom is a
unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy,
France is a
unitary semi-presidential republic, and the
United States is a
federal presidential republic.
[2]
It is an element of both the
parliamentary and the
presidential systems of
government and is typically used in a
lower chamber such as the
House of Commons of the United Kingdom, or
Lok Sabha of
India, and may be curtailed by constitutional constraints such as an
upper chamber. It has been described by some political theorists including
Robert A. Dahl, Gregory Houston and Ian Liebenberg as
polyarchy.
[3][4] In it the power is in the hands of the representatives who are elected by the people. Political parties are often central to this form of democracy because electoral systems require voters to vote for political parties as opposed to individual representatives.
[5]
Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or representative government, is a type of democracy founded on the principle of elected officials representing a group of people, as opposed to direct democracy.[1] Nearly all modern Western-style democracies are types of representative democracies; for example, the United Kingdom is a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy, France is a unitary semi-presidential republic, and the United States is a federal presidential republic.[2] It is an element of both the parliamentary and the presidential systems of government and is typically used in a lower chamber such as the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, or Lok Sabha of India, and may be curtailed by constitutional constraints such as an upper chamber. It has been described by some political theorists including Robert A. Dahl, Gregory Houston and Ian Liebenberg as polyarchy.[3][4] In it the power is in the hands of the representatives who are elected by the people. Political parties are often central to this form of democracy because electoral systems require voters to vote for political parties as opposed to individual representatives.[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_democracy