THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF MAJORITARIAN DEMOCRACY & CONSENSUS DEMOCRACY: AN EXAMPLE OF THE US AND BRITAIN

A democracy is a rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens. It encompasses social, economic, and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination. The concept of democracy has been with us since the first city-states were established in ancient Greece. Democracy has taken multiple forms, both in theory and practice. It is an active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life, and the protection of the human rights of all citizens. This paper will endeavor to understand two most common forms of democracy, which are majoritarian democracy, often associated with either presidential systems or Westminster-style parliamentary regimes, with single-member district or ‘first past the post’ systems, and secondly, consensus democracies, which are mostly associated with proportional representation electoral systems in parliamentary government. Both democracies have their own importance, and it depends on the policies of the government, which ultimately determine the type of democracy. The main purpose of this article is to compare two types of democracy and to evaluate the features of the majoritarian and consensus models of democracies. During this study, its focus will be on the descriptive theory by using comparison methods and techniques.