• Representative Democracy: Since populous nations cannot vote on every issue, the
elected members of Congress and state legislatures make the laws. (e.g. the United
States)
Figure 1: United States Declaration of Independence in July 4, 1774
United States Declaration of Independence
• Author is Thomas Jefferson et al.
• It is a well-known statement on human rights, particularly its second sentence.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness.
Gettysburg Address in 1863
• It is one of the best-known speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln during the
American Civil War.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining
before us ------ —that we here highly resolve that these dead shall
not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new
birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people,
for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Problems in Democracy Today
Problems in Democracy Today
• In theory, a representative democracy will function most effectively and fairly if an