POLSCI 1AA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Direct Democracy
12 Oct 2017
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Document Summary
Democracy is historically, institutionally, and culturally varied. There are two types of democracy: direct democracy: citizens (not professional politicians) directly make the rules and regulations governing society. Historical examples of d. d. is ancient athens. Highest political order of the state was the assembly which was composed of every male citizen. Every male citizen had the right to join the assembly. The council 500 was also made of ordinary citizens that were picked out at random. [note: the historical reality of direct democracy in ancient athens was less-than-democratic for anyone other than male citizens. Also, ancient greek theorists were almost all hostile to the direct democracy of the athenians because politics requires expert knowledge. Some argue that restrictions on popular power institutionalize the status quo and prevent genuine change. Historical examples of i. d. is the united states. The new type of regime being created in the u. s. is to create factions (small and large) are a potential danger to the polity.
