What is direct representation in terms of government?
157254
Direct representation is representation from the citizen him/herself. For instance, voting is an instance of direct representation.
182015
No.  The idea of a representative democracy like the United States is that we elect leaders to make these decisions for us.  While direct democracy (what you described) is great in theory, in practice politics is a full time job.  If people are going to vote on every issue they also have to discuss and debate every issue in order to make an informed decision.  If all citizens were expected to serve essentailly as members of congress (this is effectively what you are asking), society would cease to function.  Factories, resturantes, schools, and stores would have to close every time there was a political issue to be decided.\n\nHolding a general election is also extremely expensive and time-consuming.  You need people to supply the ballots, run the polls, and count the votes.  Special intrest groups spend huge sums on advertising for a bill they support or oppose.  Holding general elections more frequently is not economically practical.\n\nYou might say that direct democracy worked in ancient Athens.  However, direct democracy worked in Athens because slaves, women, and children kept things running while the male citizens were busy with politics.\n\nFurthermore, most issues decided by congress are far to complex for the general public.  You may want your say in abortion rights or gay marriage, or a politically charged war like the one in Iraq, but if you trust the general public to review budget proposals or redistricting measures you're insane.  Even matters like the Patriot Act are beyond the comprehension of the average American.  Try actually reading the thing - you'll see what I mean.  There are times when it is critical to raise taxes (like in the case of [legitimate] war) but asking the public to vote for it is essentially asking people to voluntarily hand over a larger portion of their income to the government.\n\nThe solution is not to switch to direct democracy but to vote for representatives who will make good decisions.
692393
Some nations have seperate heads of State and Government. Other nations, such as the United States have one person representing Head of Stateand Government.\n\nIt all depends on the type of government they have; Parlimentarian, Federal Republic, etc.
812498
Representative democracy is just elected officials making the laws and decisions for the majority.  Direct democracy is not feasible because of the large numbers of people.  Even in a smaller community, you would have thousands of people who would want to speak about each and every thing that came up.  \n\nIn government, there is a thing called "The Iron Law of Oligarchy," which means no matter how much you try to maintain direct democracy, eventually there comes a need for representaties to speak for the majority, instead of individuals speaking for themselves.
349974
IN THE DAYS OF THE 18TH CENTURY, THIS COUNTRY WAS SO LARGE THAT A DIRECT DEMOCRACY WAS NOT A VERY GOOD OPTION.  SO THEY WENT WITH THE NEXT BEST THING.  BUT IN TODAYS TIMES, A DIRECT DEMOCRACY IS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE WITH THE HIGH TECH COMMUNICATIONS WE HAVE TODAY.  THE CORRUPT SYSTEM WE HAVE TODAY IS PROOF THAT A REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY IS DOOMED TO FAIL.  A DIRECT DEMOCRACY WOULD BE FAR MORE HONEST.
311593
It's a Representative Republic.
711006
A pure form of democracy in which considerable power is wielded by the general public. For instance, the initiative, referendum, and recall are all devices of direct democracy.
284952
the difference in attitude between the colonists (who wanted their independence) and the parliament/king of england.\n\nalso the belief of indirect representation, which basically means that parliament thought that they could rule the colonies indirectly from overseas, but colonists believed in direct representation
558856
We live in a republic. Our type of government is called representative democracy. In a true democracy, every voter would vote on every issue. In a representative democracy, we vote on "representatives" to vote on every issue. Our representatives are supposed to vote with the majority view of their constituents. Most, instead, vote with their party and ignore the voice of the people who they work for.
828396
Every sector of the society must be represented in the government.  Politicians must not only address the problems of the rich and the middle class.
1008762
It's a republic in that we elect officials to represent us.  We don't elect the president, we have an electoral college to do that.  We don't vote directly on issues (some states do, but not at a Federal level).  We vote for people that we believe will represent our views and our concerns.
840489
The members of the Congress are elected by the people in their state or districts.  Thus, they represent the people in national issues and decides for the in the Congress.  In so doing, they are representives of the people to the national level.
856798
Democratic republic - a government where people elect representatives to the legislature and executive branches.  Some people can specialize in creating laws, others can approve or reject the laws (initiative, referendum).  This is the kind of government outlined in the US Constitution
267775
Democracy is a system where the population of a society controls the government. It may be narrowly defined as that of nation-state government specifically, or more broadly to describe a society as a whole, which can also exert political power and social power.\n\nDemocratic government aspires to serve under "the people" rather than ruling over them. This ideal is pursued by implementing some form of a voting system, usually involving indirect representation (see also republic).\n\nIndia is worlds largest Democracy.
191883
The government is the representation of the people until the people don't feel they are being represented fairly or appropriately.  Then they cast the bums out hopefully and get folks in there who look, walk, talk similarly to how they do.  Sometimes this system does not work too well.  Like now.  Corruption and lack of a proper watchdog agency combine to create this current ineptitude and criminality.
793428
Yes.  I do not think our "representatives" represent the people.  I think first of all, they represent themselves.  And secondly, they represent only their  political party.  Why not let the people vote on the issues?  The problem is that we have a representative democracy.  so it will never happen.
153494
It is a republic. It is governed by a representatives, not by the actually people (as in a democracy).