Question

Most Americans are familiar with the idea of indirect democracy, or representative democracy, where you vote for a candidate, such as a

president or a mayor, to represent you in the government. In that process, citizens participate by selecting candidates to support,
volunteering to campaign for candidates, communicating with elected officials about issues of interest, and sometimes even choosing to
become candidates themselves.
Direct democracy is a different form of democratic government. Small towns in New England used direct democracy to govern their
communities when the United States was a young nation. But direct democracy often falls apart with large populations. Parts of American
government today, however, still use direct democracy in certain ways.
Read the article "Initiative, Referendum, and Recall e," which details the three main forms of direct democracy in the United States today.
Part A
What do you think are the advantages of these methods of direct democracy?

Answer 1

State and local government participation

Part A

What do you think are the advantages of these methods of direct democracy?

One of the benefits of direct democracy's procedures is that it forces representatives to operate more honestly and professionally because residents can have a referendum on any proposal or even recall a representative.

Part B

What do you think are the disadvantages of these methods of direct democracy?

The negatives include the possibility that an excellent concept with a lot of support will take a long time to garner enough traction to become a formal proposal. As well as the typical public not completely understanding the facts surrounding an issue or going to the polls to vote without understanding the ideas on the ballot.

Part C

According to the article, Rhode Island held an advisory referendum in 2002 to see if residents supported changing the state constitution to make all three arms of government equal. Despite the overwhelming yes result, the nonbinding referendum did not compel legislators to act in any way. Explain why you think this form of a referendum is useful and beneficial in a few short paragraphs. What are the advantages of a direct, legally binding referendum? What are the disadvantages?

Some of the advantages of a direct, binding referendum, in my opinion, include the possibility to re-engage voters with politics and democracy. They can also be used to settle political problems, especially for incumbent administrations that are split on a particular subject. Holding a referendum, for example, can aid in finding a solution to the problem without splintering the party.

One of the disadvantages is that it weakens representative democracy by eroding elected representatives' function and importance. Moreover, voters may lack the capacity or information necessary to make informed decisions about the subject at hand, and instead, make ill-informed decisions based on incomplete knowledge or irrelevant issues such as the state of the economy. Finally, if the government has the capacity to schedule referendums, they might be utilized as a political instrument to benefit the ruling party rather than the interests of democracy.

How did you do? Rate your work on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 as the highest score.

5

HOPE THIS HELPS?