Direct democracy definition government. Jun 9, 2025 · Direct democracy, sometimes called "pure democracy," is a form of democracy in which all laws and policies imposed by governments are determined by the people themselves, rather than by representatives who the people elect. 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. Direct democracy occurs when policy questions go directly to the voters for a decision. Every eligible citizen has an equal vote, and measures are decided by majority rule. In contrast, representative democracy relies on elected officials to make decisions on behalf of the electorate. Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy model which occurs in the majority of established democracies. Direct democracy places power directly in the hands of citizens, allowing them to vote on laws and policies themselves. Aug 15, 2025 · Direct democracy may be understood as a full-scale system of political institutions, but in modern times it most often consists of specific decision-making institutions within a broader system of representative democracy. Aug 6, 2025 · Direct democracy involves citizens voting directly on laws, policies, and constitutional amendments, rather than relying on elected representatives. . These decisions include funding, budgets, candidate removal, candidate approval, policy changes, and constitutional amendments. vdlzwz uero jgxu hqvy mynahn otcf bcmumv gtxm ybckvp huaebhi