As the world is mourning the recent death of the Queen of England, lets take a moment to peak at the different forms of government that are or have been in existence throughout the history of the world.

1. Forms of Government
As the world is mourning the recent death of the Queen of England,
lets take a moment to peak at the different forms of government that
are or have been in existence throughout the history of the world.
Democracy
 The most well-known definition of Democracy comes from
the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln which is “that
government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
 Democracy is known as the ideal form of government
throughout the modern world.
 The western form of democracy originated in the city state
of Athens in Ancient Greece.
 India is said to have had democratic kingdoms during the
Mahajanapadas period such as Shakya clan to which
Buddha belonged to.
Democracy is classified into two forms
1. Direct Democracy:
Direct democracy is considered as pure democracy by some of its
proponents as it postulates that the electors themselves will be
responsible for creating laws and policies. Direct Democracy is seen
as unattainable in most of the countries with Switzerland serving as

2. the lone exception. Direct Democracy is achieved through the use of
four devices such as:
a) Plebiscite:
In Plebiscite, people are asked to vote on an issue in order to gauge
the people’s support. Results of Plebiscites are not binding on the
government.
b) Referendum:
Like Plebiscite, Referendum also asks for the electors to vote.
However, unlike Plebiscite, the results of Referendums are binding
on the Government.
c) Recall:
Recall is a devise of Direct Democracy when an elected official or a
proposed law is withdrawn or recalled due to public opposition.
d) Initiative:
Initiative is a device in direct democracy which allows the citizens to
propose a new law or constitutional amendment to the government
rather than government proposing to the citizens.

3. 2. Representative democracy:
Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy is the
more common form of democracy practiced by countries around the
world.
In this form, the people elect representatives who will create laws
and policies instead of the citizens directly making laws.
Representative democracy often employs political parties to form
ideological divisions amongst the elected representatives.
This improves the ease at which people can choose their
representatives, since parties will have their own manifestos in
which they will declare their aims and ideologies.
Representative democracy is considered better than Direct
democracy since it allows for people to choose experts who will be
able to create more nuanced policies which might be beyond the
ability of a common man.
Representative democracy is the only feasible form of democracy in
countries which have a large population such as US or India.
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