REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT

Meaning of Representative Government

Representative government is the type of government in which the people elect those who will represent them or govern the state through periodic election. It is a democratic government in which the citizens elect representatives who act as their agents in making and implementing laws. This system is also known as direct democracy, which is practice in modern times.

Features of Representative Government

1. Independent Electoral Body: there should be an independent electoral body comprising of competent electoral officers that will conduct free and fair election devoid of electoral malpractices.

2. Periodic Elections: elections should be held from time to time to enable the electorate to renew the mandate of the current representatives, or to replace them with new ones.

3. Freedom of Press: there exist press freedom so that the policies and programmes of competing parties and candidates could be publicised.

4. Majority Rule: those with the highest number of votes are allowed to rule or represent the people, and they form the majority in a representative government. Though the majority have their way,but the minority have a say.

5. Existence of Political Parties: in a representative government, political parties are allowed to exist in order to compete for power and form government.

6. Existence of Opposition Parties: there is the existence of opposition parties that ensure members of the elected party do not abuse the powers the people delegated to them.

7. Universal Franchise: in representative government, there is universal adult suffrage in which all qualify adult citizens are allowed to vote and be voted for.

Process of Forming Representative Government.

i. Written Constitution: there should be a written constitution that should clearly state the modus operandi for the establishment of a representative government and to also protect individual liberty.

ii. Establishment of an Electoral System: there should be in place also an electoral system/body who will register voters and political parties, as well as conduct elections from time to time.

iii. Organised Party System: political parties with articulated programmes and manifestoes should be allowed to be formed for the purpose of electing representatives of the people in an election.

iv. Rule of Law: for a representative government to be possible,n the laws of the land must supreme over all citizens irrespective of their status.

v. Establishment of Universal Franchise: there must be the freedom of all qualified adult citizens to vote and be voted for in all elections.

vi. An Independent Judiciary: there should be a judiciary that is free from control of the other organs of government, and the officials are free to take judicial decisions without any fear or favour.

Merits of Representative Government

a. Establishment of Democracy: representative government affords the citizens the opportunity of voting in the political parties and candidates of their choice during elections.

b. Rule of Law: representative government upholds the rule of law and guarantees fundamental human rights more than other systems.

c. Accountability: it helps to ensure that people’s representatives are accountable, responsive and responsible to the electorate.

d. Tolerance of Opposition: it is more likely to tolerate the views and suggestions of the opposition group more than other systems.

e. Press Freedom: it allows greater freedom of press, which enables even the representatives themselves to publicise their policies and programmes to the people.

Demerits of Representative Government.

a. Instability: the system recognises the existence of political parties that compete to control the machinery of government, which sometimes lead to the instability of the government.

b. Non Representation: the representative of the people may be representing their interest and not the interests of the people.

c. Manipulative: it has the capacity to promote electoral malpractices because the competing parties sometime employ illegal means to capture political power.

d. Rule of Ignorance: in this system, the best candidate often lose election to the skillful and manipulative candidate and party, since it does not pay attention to quality but quantity.

e. Expensiveness: it is very expensive to operate because decision making process in this system involve many people