There are two kinds of Democracy
1. Direct democracy and
2. Indirect Democracy.
1. Direct Democracy: Direct democracy is a kind of governance where the people directly ’’ take part in electing their government and also have a share in the exercise of real power. For example, the ancient Greek and Roman city-states had direct democracy where people directly participated to elect their representatives and take necessary measures.
In modem times, the direct democracy is still in practice in some of the cantons of Switzerland, where the voters meet in ‘ open-air parliament’. However, direct democracy . is best suited to only countries small in area and a population small enough to directly take part in the affairs.
1. Direct Democracy functions through constitutional devices like referendum, initiative, and recall.
2. Referendum means referring a bill or proposal for amendment of the constitution to the people to know their opinion.
3. Initiative provides the people a right to petition or request the parliament to enact a certain type of law.
4. Recall is a method by which the people may compel an elected representative to either resign or to submit to reelection before his term of office is over.
2. Indirect Democracy: Under this system, the people participate in the affairs of the state through their representatives. Though popular sovereignty rests in the hands of the people, it is actually exercised by their representatives and they are in turn responsible to the people. If the representatives fail to stand up to the aims and aspirations of the people, they may be changed in the next election.
