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{{Short description|Democratic method}}{{Multiple issues|{{more citations needed|date=November 2021}}{{Globalize |2=Europe |date=August 2022 }}}}{{Elections}}Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen depends upon the electoral system used. The most commonly used systems are the plurality system and the two-round system for single-winner elections, such as a presidential election, and proportional representation for the election of a legislature or executive.JOURNAL, Bormann, Nils-Christian, Golder, Matt, 2013-06-01, Democratic Electoral Systems around the world, 1946–2011,www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261379413000073, Electoral Studies, en, 32, 2, 360–369, 10.1016/j.electstud.2013.01.005, 154632837, 0261-3794, By contrast, in an indirect election, the voters elect a body which in turn elects the officeholder in question. In a double direct election, the elected representative serves on two councils, typically a lower-tier municipality and an upper-tier regional district or municipality.

Examples

Legislatures

• The European Parliament has been directly elected every five years since 1979. Member states determine how to elect their representatives, but, among other requirements, they must be directly elected.WEB, How are members of the European Parliament elected? {{!, News {{!}} European Parliament |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/faq/0/how-are-members-of-the-european-parliament-elected |access-date=2022-06-30 |website=www.europarl.europa.eu |language=en}}
• The United States House of Representatives has been directly elected, using either first-past-the-post voting or ticket voting in plural district since its inception in 1789.WEB, House of Representatives {{!, Definition, History, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Representatives-United-States-government |access-date=2022-06-30 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}
• The United States Senate begin directly electing senators in 1914—after the passage and ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.WEB, U.S. Senate: About Electing and Appointing Senators,www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/electing-appointing-senators.htm, 2022-09-02, www.senate.gov, WEB, U.S. Senate: Landmark Legislation: The Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution,www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/senate-and-constitution/seventeenth-amendment.htm, 2022-09-02, www.senate.gov,

Heads of state

• The president of France has been directly elected with the two-round system since the 1962 French presidential election referendum.WEB, 2014-11-06, The President: Four questions answered,www.elysee.fr/en/french-presidency/the-president-four-questions-answered, 2022-06-30, elysee.fr, en,
• The president of the Philippines is elected by national popular vote in elections.
• The president of Turkey has been directly elected with the two-round system since the 2007 Turkish constitutional referendum.NEWS, Bayraktar, Gonca, Turkey’s constitutional referendum: myths and facts,www.trtworld.com/opinion/turkey-s-constitutional-referendum-myths-and-facts-6347, 4 April 2024, 11 April 2017, en,

History of direct presidential elections

The idea that heads of state be elected directly by the people progressed slowly throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.JOURNAL, Blais, André, Massicotte, Louis, Dobrzynska, Agnieszka, 1997-12-01, Direct presidential elections: a world summary,www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261379497000206, Electoral Studies, en, 16, 4, 441–455, 10.1016/S0261-3794(97)00020-6, 0261-3794, This differs from parliamentary systems where executives derive power from the legislative body.{{Citation |last1=Badie |first1=Bertrand |title=Parliamentary Systems |date=2011 |url=https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/intlpoliticalscience/n408.xml |encyclopedia=International Encyclopedia of Political Science |pages=1767–1771 |access-date=2023-03-13 |place=Thousand Oaks |publisher=SAGE Publications, Inc. |last2=Berg-Schlosser |first2=Dirk |last3=Morlino |first3=Leonardo|doi=10.4135/9781412994163 |isbn=9781412959636 }}

Africa

Many African nations have moved from parliamentary to presidential systems. Regardless of constitutional structures, presidents often have immense power over other political decision-making bodies.JOURNAL, van de Walle, Nicolas, 2003, Presidentialism and clientelism in Africa’s emerging party systems,www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022278X03004269/type/journal_article, The Journal of Modern African Studies, en, 41, 2, 297–321, 10.1017/S0022278X03004269, 0022-278X, Given this power, much of the political violence around elections stems from the elections of presidents.WEB, Adjudication of Disputed Presidential Elections in Africa,academic.oup.com/book/40002/chapter-abstract/340338022?redirectedFrom=fulltext, 2023-03-13, academic.oup.com, 2021, 10.1093/oso/9780192894779.003.0014, Kaaba, O’Brien, Fombad, Charles M., 361–400, 978-0-19-289477-9, Additionally, recent coups and conflict have postponed direct presidential elections in several African countries.WEB, Africa’s Complex 2022 Elections,africacenter.org/spotlight/elections-2022/, 2023-03-13, Africa Center for Strategic Studies, en-US,

Asia

The overwhelming majority of democracies in Asia are parliamentary, rather than presidential systems. Based on constitutional design, the Philippines is the only head of state elected by popular vote.BOOK,www.worldcat.org/oclc/223396951, Electoral politics in Southeast & East Asia, 2002, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Gabriele Bruns, Aurel Croissant, Marei John, 981-04-6020-1, Singapore, 223396951, Although classified as a semi-presidential system, South Korea in political reality has a strong presidential system as well based on changes in 1987 to its constitution.WEB, 2022-02-19, The Weakness of the Strongest Institution: South Korea’s Presidential System,thegeopolitics.com/the-weakness-of-the-strongest-institution-south-koreas-presidential-system/, 2023-03-13, The Geopolitics, en-US,

Europe

The first major European country to use direct elections was France (1848). However, if no candidate received a majority of the vote the National Assembly chose the winner from the top five candidates. As the so-called Second Republic only lasted for one presidential term, this never happened.JOURNAL, Blais, André, Massicotte, Louis, Dobrzynska, Agnieszka, 1997-12-01, Direct presidential elections: a world summary,www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261379497000206, Electoral Studies, en, 16, 4, 441–455, 10.1016/S0261-3794(97)00020-6, 0261-3794, Germany (the Weimar Republic) was the first European country to use direct election of a president without intervention by the legislature.WEB, Bartsch, Kolja, German Bundestag - The Weimar Republic (1918 - 1933),www.bundestag.de/en/parliament/history/parliamentarism/weimar/weimar-200326, 2023-03-07, German Bundestag, en, Both these systems were replaced by authoritarian systems within a number of years, with indirect presidential elections instated with the restoration of democracy (in 1871 and 1949, in West Germany, respectively). Currently, Europe has a mix of parliamentary republics, presidential republics, where the president is elected directly by the people, and semi-presidential republics - including contemporary France - which have a president elected directly and a prime minister responsible to the parliament.WEB, February 13, 2023, Europe: Fact Sheet on Parliamentary and Presidential Elections,crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46858, Congressional Research Service,

Colonial legacies

A major debate exists regarding colonial legacies and the promotion of democracy around the world.JOURNAL, Lee, Alexander, Paine, Jack, 2019-09-01, British colonialism and democracy: Divergent inheritances and diminishing legacies,www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147596718302142, Journal of Comparative Economics, en, 47, 3, 487–503, 10.1016/j.jce.2019.02.001, 159451218, 0147-5967, In terms of direct elections, former British colonies are less likely to hold direct elections for heads of state. Additionally no monarchies have direct elections for head of state since by definition the head of state is unelected.JOURNAL, Blais, André, Massicotte, Louis, Dobrzynska, Agnieszka, 1997-12-01, Direct presidential elections: a world summary,www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261379497000206, Electoral Studies, en, 16, 4, 441–455, 10.1016/S0261-3794(97)00020-6, 0261-3794,

North America

United States

The conceptual origins of direct presidential elections stem from the U.S. Constitution (1787) through the Electoral College. The Framers intended for the a small group of electors, through methods determined by each state, to elect the president. Thus in practice this represents a form of indirect election.WEB, Interpretation: Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2 and 3 {{!, Constitution Center |url=https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/articles/article-ii/clauses/350 |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org |language=en}}

South America

Bolstered by opposition groups, institutional and constitutional change in the 1980s and 1990s led to direct elections of presidents in many South American countries.JOURNAL, Hakim, Peter, Lowenthal, Abraham F, 1991, Latin America’s Fragile Democracies,muse.jhu.edu/content/crossref/journals/journal_of_democracy/v002/2.3hakim.pdf, Journal of Democracy, en, 2, 3, 16–29, 10.1353/jod.1991.0042, 154861342, 1086-3214, JOURNAL, Barczak, Monica, 2001, Representation By Consultation? The Rise of Direct Democracy in Latin America,www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1531426X00003393/type/journal_article, Latin American Politics and Society, en, 43, 3, 37–59, 10.1111/j.1548-2456.2001.tb00178.x, 155019931, 1531-426X, These changes created centralized power in presidential positions, often blurring the line of separation of powers and making them powerful decision-makers over the legislature and cabinet.WEB, Palanza, Valeria, 2021-01-22, The Presidency in Latin American Politics,oxfordre.com/politics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228637-e-1674, 2023-03-13, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics, en, 10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1674, 978-0-19-022863-7, JOURNAL, Mainwaring, Scott, 1990, Presidentialism in Latin America, Latin American Research Review, 25, 1, 157–179, 10.1017/S0023879100023256, 2503565, 252947271, 0023-8791, free,

Advantages and disadvantages of directly electing the head of state

A common political debate, particularly as countries consider governmental reforms, is whether or not direct elections of heads of state strengthen democratic practices among citizens. Selection mechanisms for heads of state can lead to varying outcomes in terms of voter interest, turnout, and overall engagement.JOURNAL, Tavits, Margit, 2009, Direct Presidential Elections and Turnout in Parliamentary Contests,www.jstor.org/stable/27759844, Political Research Quarterly, 62, 1, 42–54, 10.1177/1065912908317026, 27759844, 153942262, 1065-9129, For example, some scholars argue that direct elections will mobilize voters and increase their trust in the political process, particularly in emerging democracies.BOOK, Lindberg, Staffan I.,www.worldcat.org/oclc/213305486, Democracy and elections in Africa, 2006, Johns Hopkins University Press, 978-0-8018-8925-7, Baltimore, 213305486, Others note that frequent direct elections may decrease turnout due to voter fatigue and apathy.BOOK, Norris, Pippa,www.cambridge.org/core/books/electoral-engineering/29A26685EB4B654D1B85E57679EFA3FB, Electoral Engineering: Voting Rules and Political Behavior, 2004, Cambridge University Press, 978-0-521-82977-9, Cambridge, 10.1017/cbo9780511790980,

Direct elections in legislatures and parliaments

Legislatures

• The European Parliament has been directly elected every five years since 1979. Member states determine how to elect their representatives, but, among other requirements, they must be directly elected.WEB, How are members of the European Parliament elected? {{!, News {{!}} European Parliament |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/faq/0/how-are-members-of-the-european-parliament-elected |access-date=2022-06-30 |website=www.europarl.europa.eu |language=en}}
• The United States House of Representatives has been directly elected using either first-past-the-post voting or ticket voting in plural district since its inception in 1789.WEB, House of Representatives {{!, Definition, History, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/House-of-Representatives-United-States-government |access-date=2022-06-30 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}
• The United States Senate begin directly electing senators in 1914—after the passage and ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.WEB, U.S. Senate: About Electing and Appointing Senators,www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/electing-appointing-senators.htm, 2022-09-02, www.senate.gov, WEB, U.S. Senate: Landmark Legislation: The Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution,www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/senate-and-constitution/seventeenth-amendment.htm, 2022-09-02, www.senate.gov,

See also

• Direct election republican model (Australia)
• Electoral college

References

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