Representative Democracy: Electoral and Postelectoral

Abstract

Modern democracies are representative democracies. Hence, there are two stages in the democratic process: the electoral phase and the post-election phase. Citizen participation is crucial in both phases. But, the extent of citizen participation, and the qualitative nature of the participation, differs. In the electoral phase, individuals must vote, acquire political information, and contribute to candidates’ campaigns. For the average individual, these are the limits of their participation. Voting is the most common form of participation, followed by the acquisition of political information, and the last involves contributing to candidates’ campaigns.