Editing Democracy (section)

====Aggregation====
The theory of aggregative democracy claims that the aim of the democratic processes is to solicit citizens' preferences and aggregate them together to determine what social policies society should adopt. Therefore, proponents of this view hold that democratic participation should primarily focus on [[voting]], where the policy with the most votes gets implemented. Different variants of aggregative democracy exist. 

According to the minimalist democracy conception, elections are a mechanism for [[Electoral competition|competition]] between [[politician]]s. [[Joseph Schumpeter]] articulated this view famously in his book ''Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy''.<ref name="Schumpeter"/> Contemporary proponents of minimalism include [[William H. Riker]], [[Adam Przeworski]], [[Richard Posner]]. 
According to the [[median voter theorem]] governments will tend to produce laws and policies close to the views of the median voter with half to their left and the other half to their right. [[Anthony Downs]] suggests that ideological political parties are necessary to act as a mediating broker between individuals and governments. Downs laid out this view in his 1957 book ''An Economic Theory of Democracy''.<ref>[[Anthony Downs]], (1957). ''An Economic Theory of Democracy''. HarperCollins College. {{ISBN|978-0-06-041750-5}}.</ref>

According to the theory of [[direct democracy]], on the other hand, citizens should vote directly, not through their representatives, on legislative proposals. Proponents of direct democracy offer varied reasons to support this view. Political activity can be valuable in itself, it socialises and educates citizens, and [[Public participation (decision making)|popular participation]] can check powerful elites. Proponents view citizens do not rule themselves unless they directly decide laws and policies.