User:Tim

Voting

Voting nowadays is usually done in a participatory democracy. This means that one person is elected to speak for the entire population of a village, state or country. The people have to trust that man or woman to act in their best interest. This system is based on the ancient notion that the representative had to ride on a horse to the capital city to "let their voice be heard". Today however this notion becomes hopelessly outdated a the money for campaign contributions speaks louder than votes.

Some other countries allow the people to vote for certain items that are put up for consideration. Swiss for example has a participatory democracy. They still vote for their politicians in the classical way, butiIf people object to something the politicians decided (and get enough signatures) the item is up for vote for the entire country with a binding conclusion. The politicians cannot ignore the vote as they are overruled by the people. But the possibility for people to propose alternative solutions is still small and the vote is still yes/no.