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Many democracies have developed in the history of the world, and in general they are of four types: parliamentary, as in England and Germany; presidential, as in the United States; direct, as in Ancient Greece; and mixed, as in Switzerland and Apolytonia. The latter form of democracy is rare using elements of the direct, presidential, and parliamentary forms, creating a hybrid of sorts.
There are two goals with the mixed form, one is to allow for a more direct implementation of the people's will than allowed in presidential and parliamentary forms of democracy, which seem to intentionally reduce the power of the middle and lower classes by creating positions for elected officials that only the very wealthy or those they support can afford. The second goal is to avoid bogging down the day to day operations of society that could occur with a direct democracy in a society of any significant population size.
A case in point can be seen in Apolytonia, where issues normally decided by a legislature, such as declarations of war, confirmation of judicial appointments, impeachment and the like; are left to the the people to decide. Furthermore, many decisions left to the Executive Branch (consisting of the President, Vice President, and the Ministerial Board) are made after polling the people for their opinion. In any given week, several polls may be conducted to determine the will of the people, in order for the President and his Ministers to conduct business; which can be quite overwhelming at times, but certainly not to the level one would expect in a purely direct democracy. Though often the results of the polls are used merely as gages, rarely, if ever in their history, has a polling official failed to follow the will of the people. Additionally, the people have control over what Laws are added to the Code of Laws in Apolytonia, normally, in other democracies, considered to be too complicated for the average citizen to comprehend.
While normal Legislative decisions are left to the people whether directly or indirectly, the day to day business of Apolytonia, as in many other democracies, is left to the Executive Branch. This is done to avoid the very trap mentioned above that a purely direct democracy would run into were every decision left to the general populace. Again, though, often the people express their opinion through polls, and the Executive Branch follows that opinion. Additionally, this power held by the general populace has lead to a very vocal citizenry, when they are disatisfied with a decision made, and so those in power are extremely mindful of what the populace is thinking.
The power the people have in Apolytonia is very significant compared to other democracies, and is clearly the result of having no legislative body; and this power has resulted in a weakened political party system which thrives in other democracies, such as the United States, and also has resulted in a very sizeable independent voter block. In recent elections, only one candidate openly listed as a member of one of the major parties, was successful. The remaining victorious campaigners were listed as independent. While the DIA party has recently attempted to reignite itself, the UFC has broken up, leaving only its ultra-conservative wing, the Hawks. Both parties attempts at organization are always hampered by attacks from independents, and this clearly has impacted their success at the polls. Many important party members have left their party to improve their political chances, or simply have succumb to the arguments of the independents, believing that the arguments for no political parties are with merit. In either case, the loss of members and party leaders has taken their toll on both parties.
Despite the significant power granted to the people of Apolytonia, elections and polls often find less than 1/3 of the polpulation voting. One can safely argue that it is a result of the weakened political party structure. While many believe there is little to gain from political parties, it is easy to see that one of the positives political parties have provided to democracies is their ability to "get out the vote" and entice some interest from even independent voters in an election. Another cause of the low voter turnout comes from the large amount of independents found in Apolytonia. It has become clear from studying other democracies that independents vote less than those affiliated with a major party, and this has impacted Apolytonia's voter turnout.
In summary, the unique mixed democracy found in Apolytonia has found itself with an interesting dilemna. The very strength it proposes to give to its populace, is the very cause of its own poor voter turnout. The strength given to the people, has caused them to want more and turn away from political parties; which in turn has cost them the organization that political parties can provide. Whether this can be overcome without resorting back to the ways of political parties currently shunned by its independent voters is not clear, but it is clear that some other group will need to step up and to increase voter turnout.
There are two goals with the mixed form, one is to allow for a more direct implementation of the people's will than allowed in presidential and parliamentary forms of democracy, which seem to intentionally reduce the power of the middle and lower classes by creating positions for elected officials that only the very wealthy or those they support can afford. The second goal is to avoid bogging down the day to day operations of society that could occur with a direct democracy in a society of any significant population size.
A case in point can be seen in Apolytonia, where issues normally decided by a legislature, such as declarations of war, confirmation of judicial appointments, impeachment and the like; are left to the the people to decide. Furthermore, many decisions left to the Executive Branch (consisting of the President, Vice President, and the Ministerial Board) are made after polling the people for their opinion. In any given week, several polls may be conducted to determine the will of the people, in order for the President and his Ministers to conduct business; which can be quite overwhelming at times, but certainly not to the level one would expect in a purely direct democracy. Though often the results of the polls are used merely as gages, rarely, if ever in their history, has a polling official failed to follow the will of the people. Additionally, the people have control over what Laws are added to the Code of Laws in Apolytonia, normally, in other democracies, considered to be too complicated for the average citizen to comprehend.
While normal Legislative decisions are left to the people whether directly or indirectly, the day to day business of Apolytonia, as in many other democracies, is left to the Executive Branch. This is done to avoid the very trap mentioned above that a purely direct democracy would run into were every decision left to the general populace. Again, though, often the people express their opinion through polls, and the Executive Branch follows that opinion. Additionally, this power held by the general populace has lead to a very vocal citizenry, when they are disatisfied with a decision made, and so those in power are extremely mindful of what the populace is thinking.
The power the people have in Apolytonia is very significant compared to other democracies, and is clearly the result of having no legislative body; and this power has resulted in a weakened political party system which thrives in other democracies, such as the United States, and also has resulted in a very sizeable independent voter block. In recent elections, only one candidate openly listed as a member of one of the major parties, was successful. The remaining victorious campaigners were listed as independent. While the DIA party has recently attempted to reignite itself, the UFC has broken up, leaving only its ultra-conservative wing, the Hawks. Both parties attempts at organization are always hampered by attacks from independents, and this clearly has impacted their success at the polls. Many important party members have left their party to improve their political chances, or simply have succumb to the arguments of the independents, believing that the arguments for no political parties are with merit. In either case, the loss of members and party leaders has taken their toll on both parties.
Despite the significant power granted to the people of Apolytonia, elections and polls often find less than 1/3 of the polpulation voting. One can safely argue that it is a result of the weakened political party structure. While many believe there is little to gain from political parties, it is easy to see that one of the positives political parties have provided to democracies is their ability to "get out the vote" and entice some interest from even independent voters in an election. Another cause of the low voter turnout comes from the large amount of independents found in Apolytonia. It has become clear from studying other democracies that independents vote less than those affiliated with a major party, and this has impacted Apolytonia's voter turnout.
In summary, the unique mixed democracy found in Apolytonia has found itself with an interesting dilemna. The very strength it proposes to give to its populace, is the very cause of its own poor voter turnout. The strength given to the people, has caused them to want more and turn away from political parties; which in turn has cost them the organization that political parties can provide. Whether this can be overcome without resorting back to the ways of political parties currently shunned by its independent voters is not clear, but it is clear that some other group will need to step up and to increase voter turnout.
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. Afterall, the types of people who are citizens of Apolytonia, by virtue of self-selection to be citizens in such a democratic system, are far more civically involved than the average human. Understandably, people who CHOOSE to be citizens in a democratic system of this manner for the purpose of "enjoying it" are going to be more likely to actually participate. So an extremely high turnout, even when there doesn't seem to be any compelling reason to vote, isn't all that surprising.
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