What form of government is where an individual is elected by popular vote by the people to represent their interests?
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What is the process?The Electoral College process consists of the selection of the electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress. How many electors are there? How are they distributed among the States?The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Your State has the same number of electors as it does Members in its Congressional delegation: one for each Member in the House of Representatives plus two Senators. Read more about the allocation of electoral votes. The District of Columbia is allocated 3 electors and treated like a State for purposes of the Electoral College under the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution. For this reason, in the following discussion, the word “State” also refers to the District of Columbia and “Governor” to the Mayor of the District of Columbia. How are my electors chosen? What are their qualifications? How do they decide who to vote for?Each candidate running for President in your State has his or her own group of electors (known as a slate). The slates are generally chosen by the candidate’s political party in your State, but State laws vary on how the electors are selected and what their responsibilities are. Read more about the qualifications of the electors and restrictions on who the electors may vote for. What happens in the general election? Why should I vote?The general election is held every four years on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. When you vote for a Presidential candidate you are actually voting for your candidate's preferred electors. Learn more about voting for the electors. Most States have a “winner-take-all” system that awards all electors to the Presidential candidate who wins the State's popular vote. However, Maine and Nebraska each have a variation of “proportional representation.” Read more about the allocation of electors among the States. What happens after the general election?After the general election, your Governor prepares a Certificate of Ascertainment listing the names of all the individuals on the slates for each candidate. The Certificate of Ascertainment also lists the number of votes each individual received and shows which individuals were appointed as your State's electors. Your State’s Certificate of Ascertainment is sent to NARA as part of the official records of the Presidential election. The meeting of the electors takes place on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December after the general election. The electors meet in their respective States, where they cast their votes for President and Vice President on separate ballots. Your State’s electors’ votes are recorded on a Certificate of Vote, which is prepared at the meeting by the electors. Your State’s Certificate of Vote is sent to Congress, where the votes are counted, and NARA, as part of the official records of the Presidential election. Each State’s electoral votes are counted in a joint session of Congress on the 6th of January in the year following the meeting of the electors. Members of the House and Senate meet in the House Chamber to conduct the official count of electoral votes. The Vice President, as President of the Senate, presides over the count and announces the results of the vote. The President of the Senate then declares which persons, if any, have been elected President and Vice President of the United States. The President-elect takes the oath of office and is sworn in as President of the United States on January 20th in the year following the general election. This guide is taken from the Know How Library, a tool on the Unifrog platform. Not sure whether to take the ACT or the SAT? Or how to give the perfect Oxbridge practice interview? The Know How Library is an easily searchable library of 100s of expert guides for both students and teachers, covering every aspect of the progression process. It is included as standard for Unifrog partner schools. Governments, systems of groups or people who organise communities, have existed for at least 5,000 years. Throughout history, we’ve seen many approaches to running civilisations. Nowadays, the method of rule that most countries live under is democracy. We take a look at what it is, what the alternatives are, and why it’s so essential in world politics.What is democracy? The word ‘democracy’ comes from a Greek word which means ‘rule by the people.’ It’s used to describe a system of government where power is held by the citizens. They can impact important decisions, either directly or through the people they elect. Democracy is based on freedom and equality between all people. It’s often described as the ‘rule of the majority’, as important decisions are based on the votes of the people and the most popular opinions among voters. This can either be:
Democracies aim to protect the best interests of the people, regardless of their race, gender, sexuality, religion or political opinion. What other systems are used? Today, there are around 75 countries in the world that have democracies of some kind. However, some countries have different systems of government:
What are the benefits of democracy? Winston Churchill once famously said, ‘democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.’ Although not perfect, democracy aims to bring the most benefits to the most number of people. These include:
What are the problems with democracy? Democracy isn’t always perfect, and it has been criticised for a number of different reasons. Some of the most common complaints about democracy include:
Why is democracy important for young people? People that vote have a hand in shaping the world. Politicians of all nations have a history of ignoring young people and focusing on policies that benefit older people – because older people are much more likely to vote. At the 2019 UK general election, just 47% of 18- to 24-year-olds voted, compared to 74% of people over 65. So politicians might look at those figures and decide to either:
For the best chance of winning next time, they might be sensible to choose number 2. But if more young people voted, governments would realise that they need to do more to appeal to young people. In the US and in England and Northern Ireland, you must be 18 before you can vote. In Scotland and Wales, you can vote at 16 (but 18 for UK-wide elections). But in a democracy, you can still make your voice heard if you are younger than that. For example:
What type of government is where the people vote?The United States is a representative democracy. This means that our government is elected by citizens. Here, citizens vote for their government officials. These officials represent the citizens' ideas and concerns in government.
What type of government allows the citizens to vote in elections for its leaders?It is democratic because the people govern themselves, and it is a republic because the government's power is derived from its people. This means that our government – federal, state, and local – is elected by the citizens.
What type of government has leaders voted in by the people?In a democracy, citizens hold the political power. There are two basic types of democracies: In a representative democracy, citizens elect leaders to represent their rights and interests in government.
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