ABSTRACT
From Ancient Greek notions of direct democracy within a city state and utilitarian models of representative democracy, to Joseph Schumpeter’s ‘competitive theory of democracy’ and the pluralism and polyarchy of Robert A. Dahl, definitions of democracy have been many and varied. In fact, Dahl maintains that it is precisely this evolution of democratic ideas that has produced ‘a jumble of theory and practices that are often inconsistent’ (Dahl 1989). However, the term ‘democracy’ is used as a statement of commendation, even though in its classical mode it was vague, with the ‘power of the people’ or ‘will of the people’ open to various interpretations. In the writings of the nineteenthcentury theorist John Stuart Mill, democracy was inextricably linked with representative government, which in order to exist at all had to meet three fundamental conditions: ‘People should be willing to receive it; they should be willing and able to do what is necessary for its preservation; and they should be willing and able to fulfil the duties and discharge the functions which it imposes on them’ (Mill no date: 68). For Mill, the participation of a country’s citizenry in communal activities, and specifically political affairs, was crucial to the development of representative government. To be denied active participation and be consigned to a life of passivity created a sadly impoverished people deprived of intellectual stimulus and lacking ‘any potential voice in their own destiny’ (ibid.). Participation through the ballot box would reveal the general interest of the community at large and render society more cohesive, in that powerful groups would be absorbed into society, thus reducing the need for recourse to violence and disorder. Voting would provide the key to participation, but it was not simply to be a carefree act of indulgence: the voter was under an absolute
‘moral obligation to consider the interests of the public, not his private advantage and to give his vote to the best of his judgement’ (ibid.). Voting, or indeed any form of political activity, had to be informed, impartial, thoughtful and selfimproving.
