direct democracy

noun

plural direct democracies

: democracy in which the power is exercised directly by the people rather than through representatives : a form of government in which the people vote directly against or in favor of decisions, policies, laws, etc.

First, the United States is not a direct democracy and, as such, citizens do not make decisions themselves, [Professor Harry] Wilson writes. Instead, the power to make laws lies in the hands of their elected representatives in Congress.

—Matt Williams

also : a country, state, or territory whose form of government is direct democracy compare representative democracy

Examples of direct democracy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Trump has a clear political incentive for recasting the end of a constitutional right as the mere prologue to a triumph of direct democracy. —The New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2024

State delegates who attended the convention were divided in their views on how the country should elect its president, with some suggesting Congress should choose the executive and others advocating for direct democracy, where citizens would vote to elect their leader. —Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 5 Nov. 2024

But other forms of democracy — direct democracy (initiative and referenda), participatory democracy (as in budgeting), deliberative democracy (like citizen assemblies) and digital democracy (platforms like Pol.is and Decidim) — are growing, especially locally. —Joe Mathews, The Mercury News, 5 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1629, in the meaning defined above