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9 - The People and the Constitution

from Part I - Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2023

By
Vernon Bogdanor
Edited by
Peter Cane  and
H. Kumarasingham
Peter Cane
Affiliation:
Christ's College, Cambridge and Australian National University
H. Kumarasingham
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
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Summary

Democracy is a form of government in which ultimate power rests with the people. Indeed, Aristotle in his Politics, Book 3, argued that only those who participated in government could be called citizens in the full and complete definition of that term. The word ‘democracy’ derives from the Greek ‘demos’ and ‘kratos’ meaning rule by the people. The Greeks, admittedly, held a very limited view of who was entitled to be involved in decision-making.

Keywords

direct democracydoctrine of the mandatereferendumsparish meetingsprimary electionsrecalle-petitions
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Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Constitutional History of the United Kingdom , pp. 221 - 253
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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