The advantages and disadvantages of representative democracy
THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY
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Representative democracy is what we have in this country. We are seen by many other countries as one of the most well run countries in the world. Our system seems to run very well and there are many advantages of using the system we do. The principal is that the people are represented through their MP who is able to put the views of the constituent to parliament. On the other hand most politicians want to be successful. and this much easier if you follow the party line. The use of the whip system means that if there is a whip to the 1st degree then the Prime Minister expects you to vote the same way as him. If you do not, this may jeopardize your chances of getting up the opportunity ladder, as you are against the decision of the elected party leader.
Another advantage of representative democracy is that the elected MP for a specific area will be aware of the problems, things that could be improved and the views of the constituents in that town/s. This means that peoples needs can be met to the highest level. A disadvantage to this would be that people may not get a chance to see their MP to express their beliefs so they may often feel like their views are unwanted and be annoyed with the government e.g. if someone sent a letter to their representing MP and did not get a response. Also, MP's are spending more and more time in Westminster. This means they are often away and this is why they may be out of touch with their constituents.
Some people believe along with the Conservative Party and Edmund Burke that the general public is not intelligent enough to make decisions for themselves, so we have a government made up of intellectually superior people to do it for us so we don't get it wrong. But the majority of the people would argue that we are all equal and we should all have an equal say in all matters. After all, democracy is defined as "A form of government in which political power is
Page 1
Representative democracy is what we have in this country. We are seen by many other countries as one of the most well run countries in the world. Our system seems to run very well and there are many advantages of using the system we do. The principal is that the people are represented through their MP who is able to put the views of the constituent to parliament. On the other hand most politicians want to be successful. and this much easier if you follow the party line. The use of the whip system means that if there is a whip to the 1st degree then the Prime Minister expects you to vote the same way as him. If you do not, this may jeopardize your chances of getting up the opportunity ladder, as you are against the decision of the elected party leader.
Another advantage of representative democracy is that the elected MP for a specific area will be aware of the problems, things that could be improved and the views of the constituents in that town/s. This means that peoples needs can be met to the highest level. A disadvantage to this would be that people may not get a chance to see their MP to express their beliefs so they may often feel like their views are unwanted and be annoyed with the government e.g. if someone sent a letter to their representing MP and did not get a response. Also, MP's are spending more and more time in Westminster. This means they are often away and this is why they may be out of touch with their constituents.
Some people believe along with the Conservative Party and Edmund Burke that the general public is not intelligent enough to make decisions for themselves, so we have a government made up of intellectually superior people to do it for us so we don't get it wrong. But the majority of the people would argue that we are all equal and we should all have an equal say in all matters. After all, democracy is defined as "A form of government in which political power is