FAD - Types of Representative Democracies Lesson

Types of Representative Democracies

Theories of Democratic Government

The United States has a Representative Democracy, which means that we elect people to Congress to make decisions for us. But does that mean Congress has the power over our country? Does the President? Where does power reside in the US?

These are the forms of Representative democracies in the United States:

Forms of Representative democracies:

• • Participatory democracy : Emphasizes broad participation in politics and civil society(Participatory theory implies that the people are in power and that all democracies are participatory)
  • Pluralist democracy : Recognizes group-based activism by non governmental interests striving for impact on political decision making. (Pluralism theory stays that there are many different groups in the country and they have to compromise to get what they want)
  • Elite democracy : Emphasizes limited participation in politics and civil society. (Elite theory says those who are rich and powerful are in charge, regardless of the type of government)

There is a debate between Federalist 10 and Brutus 1 regarding types of representative democracies and this debate reflects the tension between the broad participatory model and the more filtered participation of the pluralist and elite models.

Types of Government

There here are different ideas about who has the real power, but what about the states and the federal (national) government. Who has the real power there? It depends on what type of system a country has. View the following presentation to learn more about the different types of governments.

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