SEMI-DIRECT DEMOCRACY: MAIN CHARACTERISTICS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

The semi -direct democracy or participatory democracy can be defined as a kind of democracy in which people have the opportunity to take more political decisions.

Democracy implies that the people are in power, so all democracies are participatory. However, participatory democracy tends to promote more involved forms of citizen participation and greater political representation than traditional representative democracy.

Participatory democracy seeks to create opportunities for all members of the population to make meaningful contributions to decision-making, and seeks to broaden the range of people who have access to those opportunities.

This system generally means the right of citizens in a democracy to participate. It is an obligation of citizens to participate in the decisions made by their government representatives, since these decisions impact the lives of all citizens.

Semi-direct democracy constitutes the theoretical belief in participation techniques that improve people's involvement in decision-making.

Characteristics of semi-direct democracy

Political involvement

Semi-direct or participatory democracy shares the meaning of political involvement without mediation with the term direct democracy, and is therefore countered by the division of political labor in representative democracies.

Emphasis on participation

Unlike direct democracy, semi-direct democracy focuses more on participatory processes and the deliberation process, and not so much on voting results.

Mechanisms of expression in semi-direct democracy

1- Revocation of the mandate or popular dismissal

It is a procedure in which voters can remove an elected official from their office by direct vote, before that official's term has ended.

Mandate recalls, which are initiated when enough voters sign a petition, have a history dating back to ancient democracy in Athens and appear in contemporary constitutions.

Like most populist innovations, the practice of holding referendums for rulers is an attempt to minimize the influence of political parties on representatives.

The impeachment is designed to ensure that an elected official will act with the interests of his constituency in mind, rather than the interests of his political party, or will act according to his own conscience.

The actual instrument of a referendum is usually a letter of resignation signed by the elected representative prior to taking office.

During his term in office, the letter may be recalled by a constituent quorum if the representative's performance fails to meet expectations.

2- Plebiscite

The plebiscite is a type of voting, or laws that are proposed. Some definitions suggest that it is a type of voting that seeks to change the constitution or government of a country. However, others may define it as the opposite.

Usually, the definition of what kind of plebiscite will be used depends on the history of the country and its Constitution. Plebiscites can produce two types of results:

- Mandatory, it means that the government must do what the result says.

- Consultative, means that the result of the vote should only help the government to make a final decision.

Many political problems can be solved by asking people for their opinion. This is because those who support an argument must be forced to accept the decision of the people.

However, the electorate may not have enough political knowledge to truly understand what they are voting for.

It is also thought that voters can be easily persuaded by their inner feelings, rather than concentrating on the good of the nation as a whole. This means that they vote selfishly.

3- Popular initiative

It is a method in which a petition signed by a minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote. They are generally used to propose the sanction or repeal of any law.

The initiative can take the form of a direct initiative or an indirect initiative. In a direct initiative, a measure is directly put to a vote after being presented by a petition.

In an indirect initiative, a measure is first referred to the Legislature, and then put to a popular vote only if it is not enacted by the Legislature.

You can vote for a proposed statute, a constitutional amendment, a local ordinance, or simply to force the Executive or Legislature to consider an issue when putting it on the agenda.

4- Referendum

It is a direct vote in which the entire electorate is invited to vote on a particular proposal; This may result in the adoption of a new law.

Today, a referendum can often be referred to as a plebiscite. But in many countries the two terms are used differently, to refer to votes that differ in different types of legal consequences.

For example, Australia defines a referendum as a vote to change the Constitution and a plebiscite as a vote that does not affect the Constitution.

In contrast, Ireland has only had one plebiscite, which was the vote to adopt its Constitution, and all other votes have been called for referendums.

The term referendum carries a variety of different meanings. A referendum can be mandatory or consultative. Depending on the country, different names are used for these two types of referendums.

Referendums can be classified by who initiates them: mandatory referendums, prescribed by law; voluntary referendums, initiated by the Legislature or Government; and citizen-initiated referendums.

In the modern world, most referendums need to be understood in the context of a representative democracy. Therefore, they tend to be used selectively.

For example, they can cover problems such as changes in voting systems, when elected officials do not have the legitimacy or inclination to implement such changes.

References

1. Referendum. Recovered from wikipedia.org
2. Initiative. Recovered from wikipedia.org
3. Participatory democracy (2012). Recovered from participedia.net
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7. What is participatory democracy? it means to get involved (2010). Recovered from glasgowdailytimes.com
8. Participatory democracy. Recovered from wikipedia.org
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10. The state of participatory democracy theory (2010). Recovered from tandfonline.com
11. Plebiscite. Recovered from wikipedia.org