Representative democracy
A system of government based on the election of decision-makers by the people. Representatives act in their interests, but not as their proxies.
Further information
There is a whole host of academic literature on representative democracy. One important recent article is from the University of Manchester: Making representative democracy more representative. can new froms of citizen governance in the UK open up democracy (pdf).
With thanks to:
CLES - Centre for Local Economic Strategies
RENEW Northwest - the Regional Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Communities
