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The big difference is that a representative system has a lot of checks and balances on the power of any individual in government, whereas an autocrat doesn't. S
by goatlover 2y ago
The big difference is that a representative system has a lot of checks and balances on the power of any individual in government, whereas an autocrat doesn't. So you're at the whim of that individual instead of many different people and agencies with competing interests.
Of course a direct democracy of several hundred million people isn't really going to give you that much more say as your vote will a tiny fraction, even if you do decide to participate in most of the decision making. Assuming you want to spend your day on all sorts of policy decisions and judicial rulings.
- scarecrowbob 2y agoEverybody always says "communism is a great idea but doesn't work in practice". I am not a communist (in the normal Marxist/Leninist tradition), but my feeling has always been that what I've been presented with as Democracy doesn't really function as such. At the same time, when I complain I keep getting told that "it's an imperfect system but it's what we have". I suspect that would be the same answer I'd get if we had a king. And FWIW, it's really what we are seeing now that the executive branch of the US gov has unified around Trump/Musk. So it actually doesn't seem to be a big difference from where I am sitting. Any time I have interacted with about anyone with any amount of power, I have very much felt like I was beholden to their whims- I get that I am not -supposed- to feel that way, so I don't expect validation for my feelings. I am just reporting an alternative view of the situation. I do believe in democracy, but the kind of thing in Ursula Le Guin's fictional worlds. I believe that kind of consensus is what guides the better small groups I've interacted with, country dance bands, families, small programming companies, etc.