The citizens elect representatives such as the president, members of congress, and senators to run the government. The United States is a representative democracy. Another name for this type of democracy is a democratic republic. This is where the people elect representatives to run the government. Representative - The other type of democracy is a representative democracy. Imagine the 300 million people of the United States trying to get together in one place to decide an issue. A direct democracy becomes difficult when the population grows. All of the citizens would gather to vote in the main square on major issues. One of the first direct democracies was in Athens, Greece. There are two main types of democracies: direct and representative.ĭirect - A direct democracy is one in which every citizen votes on all important decisions.
