Three Forms Of Democracy

Democracy is not a system that applied in all of democracy countries. There are many systems of democracy that applied in democracy countries. Democracy system that applied in Indonesia, Switzerland, USA, and Germany are different each other. All of them are democracy countries, but Democracy system in Indonesia is different with the democracy system in Switzerland. Democracy system in Switzerland is different with democracy system in USA, and democracy system in USA is different with democracy system in Germany. There are some general features as well as some groups of democratic systems that may be distinguished from each other. There are three basic forms of democracy that are applied in democracy countries.

Direct democracy is one of the popular democracy system. It is applied in Switzerland. In this system, Head of State is a  member of government in turn. Government members have equal rights. They are elected by the parliament, representing all major parties. Parliament members are elected for a fixed legislative period without dissolution. In this system, people have the strongest position.

Besides that, Presidential democracy is a system of democracy that applied in Indonesia, USA and France. In this system, president is head of state and leader of the government. The president is elected by the people in an election. Parliament members are elected for a fixed legislative period. In presidential system, the president has a stronger position.

Parliamentary democracy also a popular democracy system. It is applied in Germany and Italy. In this system, Head of State has a different function with a prime minister. The head of state is a monarch (queen/king). Government is elected by the parliament based on a majority, and it may be dismissed by the parliament. Parliament members are elected for a legislative period. Dissolution and early new parliament elections are possible if a clear majority cannot be established. Political parties have a strong position in this system.

Though there are differences between the systems of direct, presidential and parliamentary democracy, the systems are applied according to the circumstances and conditions of each countries. Each countries has a consideration to apply a system. The most important is how a system can make a prosperity of the country and its people.

References

Lapham, H. L. (2011, April). Democracy 101. Harpers, 31-37.

Mueller, C. D. (1996). Constitutional democracy. New York: Oxford University Press.

Systems of democracy. (2004) In Democracy building. Retrieved March 27, 2011, from http://www.democracy-building.info/systems-democracy.html