Elections provide people with the opportunity to decide what happens in their community. Sometimes people vote for or against specific issues. This kind of vote is called a referendum. For example, if a community was deciding whether to build a new road in their town, the people might vote “yes” or “no”. This is an example of direct democracy.

However, since most elections are an example of indirect democracy, members of a community usually choose representatives who will be responsible for making decisions for that community. This is normally done by majority vote (i.e. The person who gets the most votes become the representative for that community).

The individuals who want to represent their community in government are called candidates. During the elections, people have an opportunity to learn about the views and values of different candidates and then decide which candidate best represents their own ideas about what should be done for the society.

The role of political parties in elections

Democracy is based on the idea of self-government. This means that governmental authority is based on the consent of the people, that government is accountable to the people, and that power is used for the equal benefit of all citizens. In a representative democracy, the major decision-making procedure is elections.

Electoral democracy may be complemented by mechanisms of direct democracy such as referenda, but these mechanisms do not fulfill the representative function of elections, namely selecting representative for government.

However, elections alone do not mean democracy. Elections need to effectively translate citizens’ preferences into representative institutions and governmental policies. Consequently, effective electoral democracy depends on the four conditions outlined above.

Parties seek to influence public opinion, compete for political office and participate regularly in elections. The links that political parties create between government, the people and civil society help to promote systematic transfer of information and choices between citizens and the state. As they compete for political power, parties provide citizens with policy options that have a realistic chance of becoming government policy.

Parties seek to win political power in elections by appealing to large numbers of people across the political and social spectrum of a country. If a party wants to be successful in a national election, it must develop a comprehensive political program and must be willing to take responsibility for governing the country as a whole. National parties should develop solutions and policies that cover the breadth of social and economic problems faced by a country (rather than just a specific region). These solutions and policies usually represent compromise among a variety of interests within the party.

Alternative forms of political organization such as independent parliamentarians or civil society organizations generally lack one or more of these attributes. This means that they may contribute to one or the other of the four conditions that promote electoral democracy, but they are unlikely to fulfill all of them at once. The combination of these features in political parties enables them to promote all four conditions that support electoral democracy.

Free and Fair Elections

In a democracy, leaders need the consent of the people. If they lose it, the people can replace them. If a representative makes good decisions for their community, the community can reward them by voting for them again. On the other hand, if a representative has not fulfilled their responsibilities to their community, people can replace them by not voting for them again.

This is why elections are so important in a democracy. Elections give citizens the chance to express their consent and discontent and to make sure that representatives are accountable to the people. However, if elections are not carried out properly, then people will lose their ability to remove representatives if they are fail to represent them, were ineffective, were unaccountable, and replace them with candidates who will. This is why it is important that democratic elections are “free and fair”.

In a “free” election, there is no intimidation or threats to citizens during or before an election.

In a “fair” election, there is no corruption (such as vote buying or bribing officials) and votes are counted in a fair and systematic way.

Free and fair elections can be seen in the following ways:

• All citizens should have one vote and every vote should have equal value.

• All candidates should be free to stand in an election

• All candidates should have the same access to the voters to inform them about their ideas.

• The candidate or party who gets the most votes in an election actually gains power.

• Elections should take place in a way where people are free to choose without fear of violence or intimidation.