POL 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Single Transferable Vote, Proportional Representation, Direct Democracy
6 Apr 2016
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Lecture #4: democracy, elections, and the electoral system. The main principles of democracy is that political power should originate with the people rather than those who rule". Modern democracy therefore argues that the government"s authority rests on the free and fair participation of all who are subject to its rule". The free and fair" principle is central to this argument. Democracy claims to be the best form of government because: It provides citizens the opportunity to make decisions about the state; Citizen participation leads to better decision-making compared to any other alternative. A political system in which citizens hold power directly rather than through elected or appointed representatives". Also known as athenian democracy, this was the system of democracy practiced in ancient greece in the 5th century in city states like athens and sparta. Citizens, not politicians, were responsible for making key political decisions about their community.
