THE 10 TYPES OF DEMOCRACY AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Some of the most common types of democracy are direct, representative, participatory, partial, presidential, and parliamentary. The reason why there are so many divisions and subdivisions is because the way a democracy is run depends a lot on the type of government that is in force, whether it is president or monarch.

There are 10 main types of democracy. Among these are direct, participatory, social, representative, partial, parliamentary, constitutional, religious, authoritarian and presidential democracy.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines democracy as "A government in which power is vested in the people and is exercised by them directly or indirectly, through a system of representation that usually involves free elections."

That is to say, it is a system of government that involves the people in the decisions that concern the future of the country. Be it laws, reforms, among other things.

The word democracy comes from the Greek "demos" which means people and "kratos" which means power. Its history dates back to more than 700 years before Christ in ancient Greece; all men could participate in the decisions of the government.

The 10 main types of democracy

Many years have passed since the first vestiges of democracy as a system of government. For that reason, democracy (although its essence and base is the same) has changed somewhat in its implementation and has resulted in different types.

The democracy that is applied today is called "modern democracy."

1) Direct Democracy

This type of democracy is the closest to the oldest or "pure" democracy. In this type all the small decisions are in the hands of the inhabitants, without any intermediary.

In fact, most of the time decisions are submitted to public hearings, as is the case in Switzerland.

Not only are government decisions put to a vote; the people can propose laws. If the people get enough signatures, these laws will be put to a vote and can be implemented.

2) Representative Democracy

This type of democracy leaves the people to have the right to vote to elect individuals who will represent them in parliament. They will decide what they think is beneficial to the country on behalf of the people of that country.

They should be people qualified to represent the people who elected them. This type of democracy simplifies and speeds up things because you don't have to consult everything with the people.

However, representatives may sometimes fail to properly represent people's interests, which can cause problems.

3) Participatory Democracy

It is very similar to direct democracy but with more limitations. In this type of government, the people have participation but in strong votes.

For example, a law reform must be put to a vote. However, a tax increase does not.

A representative characteristic is that it doesn't matter how big or small the decision is; each inhabitant votes for himself. That is, they do not have a larger figure who votes on behalf of various people or communities.

4) Partial Democracy

Also called non-liberal democracy, it is one in which the basic democratic principles are given but the knowledge and power of the people is limited in terms of many decisions made by the executive.

Government activities are somewhat isolated to the knowledge of the people. Therefore, the rulers can act for themselves, without being held accountable to the people.

5) Presidential Democracy

In this type of democracy, there is a differentiation between the legislative and executive systems. The president does not depend on a parliament, nor on assembly members.

Although the decisions of the majority of the parliament should be respected, the president can decide to veto or accept the law or the reform.

In presidential democracy, the head of state and government is only the president. In this type of case, citizens vote directly for the president and on the other hand they also vote directly for the legislative representatives.

6) Constitutional Democracy

It is the majority of the cases of the republics of today. Basically it is a democracy that bases its power on the laws written in the constitution.

It cannot be influenced by external factors, impartialities or political parties. Absolutely all decisions must be attached to the constitution and if not, a reform process must be endorsed by citizens or members of parliament.

7) Parliamentary Democracy

This type of democracy is usually part of a representative democracy. Suffrage is used to elect parliamentarians.

They will deal with government decisions and may even elect the president / chancellor / head of government as is the case in Germany.

It differs from representative democracy because citizens leave the choice of executive power to the parliamentarians.

It is usually characterized by having a head of state and a head of government. In most cases, the former is a monarch and the latter is a prime minister.

8) Social Democracy

This type of democracy, also called Social Democracy, mixes the political with the economic system. It can be part of a participatory, representative or parliamentary democracy.

Canada is a parliamentary democracy considered a social democrat. Social democracy seeks that the state can be equal to or more powerful than the economic elites.

Thus the people can depend on him without having to go to private institutions. Characteristics of this type of democracies can be free medical service, free and compulsory education, etc.

9) Authoritarian Democracy

It is one in which government authority can extend beyond what is necessary and has the right to regulate many economic, social and cultural aspects. It can happen many times under the partial democracy system.

Usually this type of authoritarianism is noticed when a dominant party or an economic coalition regulates the decisions in their favor; while they still comply with the basic principles of democracy such as suffrage, freedom of expression, etc.

10) Religious Democracy

This type of democracy is one that mixes the political system with religion. In other words, government decisions are influenced by the religion of the country or ruler.

In fact, the country that has this type of democracy can be considered a "religious state." Israel is a parliamentary religious democracy, as it has been proclaimed a Jewish state.

The decisions of religious democracies should be more in line with the customs and traditions of the practicing religion than the constitution. Failing that, it should then have a constitution that is based on religion.

References

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2. "Types of democracy" Retrieved on July 12, 2017 from governmentvs.com
3. "Different systems of democracy" Retrieved on July 12, 2017 from democracy-building.info
4. “Switzerland's political system of direct democracy” Retrieved on July 12, 2017 from direct-democracy.geschichte-schweiz.ch
5. (2015) "What is a parliamentary democracy?" Retrieved on July 12, 2017 from borgenproject.org
6. Center for civic education "Constitutional democracy" Retrieved on July 12, 2017 from civiced.org
7. "What is the Difference Between a Representative Democracy and a Participatory Democracy?" Retrieved on July 12, 2017 from wisegeek.org
8. (2017) "Different forms of democracy" Retrieved on July 12, 2017 from ukessays.com
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