Direct democracy
Direct democracy, classically termed pure democracy, comprises a form of democracy and theory of civics wherein sovereignty is lodged in the assembly of all citizens who choose to participate. Depending on the particular system, this assembly might pass executive motions (decrees), make law, elect and dismiss officials and conduct trials. Where the assembly elected officials, these were executive agents or direct representatives (bound to the will of the people). In a representative democracy sovereignty is exercised by a subset of the people, elected periodically, but otherwise free to advance their own agendas.
It also deals with how citizens are "directly" involved with voting for various laws, instead of voting for representative to decide for them.
Modern direct democracy is characterized by three pillars:
- Initiative,
- Referendum, including binding referendums, and
- Recall, a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of office has ended.
The second pillar can include the ability to hold a binding referendum on whether a given law should be scrapped. This effectively grants the populace a veto on government legislation. The third pillar gives the people the right to recall elected officials by petition and referendum.
