Participatory democracy is the older theory that dates back in time before the Constitution. According to Carol Pateman, one must assume in participatory democracy that individuals and their institutions cannot be isolated from one another. People are in direct contact and control of political action. Participatory democracy is considered the most ideal form of democracy because it concentrates on the whole rather than the individual. The focus is on the greater good for the whole. The citizens are collaborators and, essent

While participatory democracy may the oldest theory, it is also relatively unknown in today’s society. Representative democracy has been dominant since the Philadelphia Constitutional meeting in 1867. This form of democracy is characterized by formal institutions. In representative democracy, citizens do not make decisions on policies. Instead, they elect representatives to make these decisions on their behalf. The biggest form of participation in representative democracy is voting according to Dr. Davis. Aside from voting, citizens have little or no participation in politics. Even when dealing with the citizens’ freedom to vote, the participation is limited.

Participatory democracy has slowly and effectively been discarded leaving representative democracy the popular theory. According to Miriam-Webster’s online dictionary, pure democracy is a “democracy in which the power is exercised directly by the people.” Democracy is defined as “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation.” Our state has altered the meaning of democracy. Representative democracy fails to uphold the meaning of pure democracy in the way participatory democracy does. Our government has been evolving since the birth of our nation. Power is continually being taken from the everyday people and given to the power elite. What little power the people do retain is at risk of being taken away if some of the original powers are not restored. We proudly built this nation as a democracy, yet we are systematically turning away from this once revered theme of freedom.

In politics, there are two dominant political parties along with several smaller parties. The political parties hold conventions and determine the candidate that will run as the representative of their party on the election ballot through private caucuses. In the end, citizens are allowed to vote for one of the selected candidates rather than their ideal choice. There is a place on the ballot for write-ins, but the system is set up so that the constituents believe that their vote will not amount to anything if they do not vote along the two more dominant party lines. However, one can see the chaos that would result when electing officials if everyone

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