FAD - Democracy Lesson

What is Democracy?Why do we elect Representatives? 1. Government is complex (especially in the modern era) 2. Most Americans are too busy to understand the issues 3. Protection against the "ignorant masses" 4. Influence of Hamiltonian beliefs (rich and educated should rule)

Democracy is a term from the ancient Greeks that means "of the people." This means the people have control over what the government does. This is what the Declaration of Independence calls the "consent of the governed." There are two types of democracy:

Direct Democracy: This is the type of democracy where all citizens have a say. This means that every person is consulted before the government makes a decision. Some examples of this are New England town meetings and the ancient Greek city of Athens.

Representative Democracy (Democratic Republic): Unlike a direct democracy, in a representative democracy, the people elect representatives to make government decisions for them. The United States has a representative democracy. We elect our Representatives and Senators to make decisions for us.

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