Many people don’t realize that the term democracy refers to a model of government implemented in Athens Greece over 2000 years ago. Republican government was innovated until hundreds of years later in the Roman Republic. The word democracy has been appropriated to mean republican government but at first it implied direct voting and participation by the public. Measures required a majority for confirmation and an open vote was organized where all of the Athenian citizens were granted access. This process is much different from a republican government where citizens vote for professional representatives who hold their own quorum and maintain internal debates. Republican government was thought to be more precise, more exacting, and more efficient due to knowledge accumulation within the professional representatives. General populations could not acquire the necessary expertise to vote on more complex issues and information propagation was always a problem. Eventually corruption set in and a secondary market for votes and juror duty overcome the rational and measured system of true democracy and the city fell into decay and decline. Republican government was the answer but it soon demonstrated its own weakness with the tendency towards despotism and monarchy being a natural consequence of consolidating the political power. This is best epitomized by Rome’s slow decline and eventual fall. Republican governments also succumb to greed and corruption with the professional representatives usually identifying with the owners’ class or wealthiest of citizens. Evidence of this is found within contemporary democracies susceptibility to private campaign finance and voter suppression efforts. Greek True Democracy isn’t necessarily a viable alternative to republican forms of government. Modern economy and society is too complex and has too many demands for it to be implemented successfully. True democracy has more use as a reform of government with access restricted to a single chamber of the legislature. It is a trend towards more oversight, more open dialogue, and more participation. It is a productive foil to republican government that will continue to grow in popularity as wealth inequality and corruption set into the older democracies. The people will feel more secure with more direct control over the government. They will accept the increased risk of mismanagement and decreased efficiency. It is not likely that the republican legislatures will be retired and the representatives disbanded but true democracy offers an opportunity to incorporate a new institution with new responsibilities as a check on their power. Democratic legislature chambers can be extremely productive amendments and improvements to conventional bicameral unitary executive democracies. A democratic chamber will often be an integral part of a balanced and representative government. Accurate representation is necessary for an equitable economy and for political stability. Legislatures correlated to population adequately satisfy this requirement but many government systems have multiple components that are based on less sophisticated ratios of politicians and public. In many respects a democratic chamber is more legitimate than a senate due the huge variation in the ratio of politician to population between the states. A state with a population of 75x that of another state might have the same number of senators providing a huge advantage to the smaller state or less populous state. Massive inefficiencies accumulate that are easily exploited by opposition parties and corporate interests. Deficiencies in representation affect culture, economy, and security. They make the nation vulnerable to coercion, usurpation, secession, and invasion. Imbalances in representation cause exploitation in federalist tax policy, wage compensation and wealth inequality, and provide opportunity for other states and corporations to compromise the integrity of the government. Efficiencies in representation provide the relief. Generally, the economy is more balanced, there is much less obstruction and dysfunction, and the nation behaves more predictably and responsibly. With representative government the labor and middle classes are better able to defend their economic interests. All citizens are better able to defend their political rights. When deficiencies arise the most economical and most appropriate solution is applied. Majority rule must be affirmed as long as the minority is protected by a strong Bill of Rights and a constitution provides adequate checks and balances. Permanent security can only be achieved with balanced and accurate representation but most democratic nations are born under the duress of concession with legislatures comprised of bicameral legislatures with unrepresentative senatorial representation and unstable popular representation. History is the study of deficiencies in people and their systems of representation. Political systems are typically inflexible and resistant to change. This exposes the citizens to extreme forms of exploitation when the deficiencies allow parties or individuals to inhibit legislation (obstruction) production or consolidate power. These defects accumulate over decades and generations. They are fault lines that can destroy the nation's economy, invalidate a popular election, or precipitate insurrection or secession. Once a deficiency is exposed the beneficiaries will ruthlessly protect the entitlement through due process and any means possible. Their presence can wreak havoc on futures with dissent in the populace and disdain in the opposition leadership. True democracy is implicitly legitimate due to the direct involvement of the masses if the circumstances permit free and open voting. However, they can be compromised with disruptions in information about the issues or when certain communities are actively discouraged from participating. Many of the more sophisticated structures for voting can be criticized but one has to remember that most forms of government have waste and produce inefficiencies. This is certainly true of many republican forms of government especially those with Senatorial representation. Voter suppression efforts can easily invalidate the registration and democratic process. True democracy is more limited than republican governments due specifically to the lack of information distribution and inability to effectively author legislation or perform more exacting oversight. Still, democratic chambers are highly effective at ratifying trade and defense treaties, confirming legislation, and confirming appointments. As a component of a more complex legislature system a democratic chamber can be a great improvement over bicameral republican legislatures.
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