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38-419: Caretaker governments in representative democracies are usually limited in their function, serving only to maintain the status quo , rather than truly govern and propose new legislation . Unlike the government it is meant to temporarily replace, a caretaker government does not have a legitimate mandate (electoral approval) to exercise aforementioned functions. Caretaker governments may be put in place when

76-481: A chief of staff , party leader, counsel , or other senior adviser to the position, as a reward for service or to boost their résumé. Examples include Ann Richards appointing Bob Krueger , Deval Patrick appointing Paul G. Kirk , Chris Christie appointing Jeffrey Chiesa , and Phil Murphy appointing George Helmy as Senators, the latter two from New Jersey . At one time, widows of politicians were often selected as caretakers to succeed their late husbands; in

114-531: A legislature (such as a parliament or congress), which may be composed of a single chamber (unicameral), two chambers (bicameral), or more than two chambers (multicameral). Where two or more chambers exist, their members are often elected in different ways . The power of representatives is usually curtailed by a constitution (as in a constitutional democracy or a constitutional monarchy ) or other measures to balance representative power: Some political theorists, such as Edmund Burke , believe that part of

152-434: A government in a parliamentary system is defeated in a motion of no confidence , or in the case when the house to which the government is responsible is dissolved, to be in place for an interim period until an election is held and a new government is formed. In this sense, in some countries which use a Westminster system of government, the caretaker government is simply the incumbent government, which continues to operate in

190-400: A new coalition take place. This usually occurs either immediately after an election in which there is no clear victor or if one coalition government collapses and a new one must be negotiated. Caretaker governments are expected to handle daily issues and prepare budgets for discussion, but are not expected to produce a government platform or introduce controversial bills. A caretaker government

228-437: A phenomenon known as "widow’s succession." At the beginning of the 20th century, it was one of the most effective ways of getting women into Congress , even though the widow may have originally only been supposed to act as a placeholder for her dead husband and was only expected to serve for a brief period. The widows may have been selected to honor the deceased member, tap voters’ sympathy, or exploit name recognition to hold onto

266-484: A seat while more conventional candidates prepared for the real campaign. It also may have helped some of the women grieve and make up for the sudden loss of income in a world where few worked outside the home. Among first-time candidates for the US House of Representatives from 1916 to 1993, 84% of the widows won, while only 14% of other women were victorious. The trend was strongest when women were rarer in politics; 35 of

304-556: Is a type of democracy where representatives are elected by the public. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of representative democracy: for example, the United Kingdom (a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy ), Germany (a federal parliamentary republic ), France (a unitary semi-presidential republic ), and the United States (a federal presidential republic). This

342-706: Is different from direct democracy , where the public votes directly on laws or policies, rather than representatives. Political parties often become prominent in representative democracy if electoral systems require or encourage voters to vote for political parties or for candidates associated with political parties (as opposed to voting for individual representatives). Some political theorists (including Robert Dahl , Gregory Houston, and Ian Liebenberg) have described representative democracy as polyarchy . Representative democracy can be organized in different ways including both parliamentary and presidential systems of government . Elected representatives typically form

380-407: Is known as the iron law of oligarchy . Representative democracies which are stable have been analysed by Adolf Gasser and compared to the unstable representative democracies in his book Gemeindefreiheit als Rettung Europas which was published in 1943 and a second edition in 1947. Adolf Gasser stated the following requirements for a representative democracy in order to remain stable, unaffected by

418-485: Is often set up following a war until stable democratic rule can be restored, or installed, in which case it is often referred to as a provisional government . Many countries are administered by a caretaker government during election periods, such as: Other countries that use similar mechanisms include Canada , and New Zealand . Heads of caretaker governments are often referred to as a "caretaker" head, for example "caretaker prime minister". Similarly, but chiefly in

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456-632: Is rarely exercised today, as it could be viewed by some as nepotism . In Canada and most other English-speaking countries, the more widely accepted term in this context is interim , as in interim leader . In Italy, this kind of premier is the President of Government of Experts . The following is a list of individuals who have been considered caretaker (or provisional or interim) heads of state or heads of government: Representative democracies List of forms of government Representative democracy , electoral democracy or indirect democracy

494-577: The Reform Act 1832 with launching modern representative democracy in the United Kingdom. Globally, a majority of governments in the world are representative democracies, including constitutional monarchies and republics with strong representative branches. Separate but related, and very large, bodies of research in political philosophy and social science investigate how and how well elected representatives, such as legislators, represent

532-415: The United States , caretakers are individuals who fill seats in government temporarily without ambitions to continue to hold office on their own. This is particularly true with regard to United States senators who are appointed to office by the governor of their state following a vacancy created by the death or resignation of a sitting senator. Sometimes governors wish to run for the seat themselves in

570-477: The marginalized . Proponents of direct democracy criticize representative democracy due to its inherent structure. As the fundamental basis of representative democracy is non inclusive system, in which representatives turn into an elite class that works behind closed doors, as well as the criticizing the elector system as being driven by a capitalistic and authoritarian system. The system of stochocracy has been proposed as an improved system compared to

608-463: The 95 women who served in Congress through 1976 were congressional wives first. Political scientist Diane Kincaid wrote that "statistically, at least, for women aspiring to serve in Congress, the best husband has been a dead husband." Academics Lisa Solowiej and Thomas L. Brunell called it "arguably the single most important historical method for women to enter Congress." Nevertheless, this custom

646-707: The Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and she served as the chair of the board. Blair was twice selected by University of Arkansas students as Outstanding Faculty Member, and she won the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences Master Teacher Award. She was the first recipient of the Master Teacher Award. In 1998, Blair won the Outstanding Professional Achievement Award from

684-691: The Clintons throughout her life, including working as a researcher on both of Bill Clinton's presidential campaigns. As President , Bill Clinton appointed Blair to chair the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting . The Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society, at the University of Arkansas, was named after her. Blair was born on October 25, 1938, in Washington, D.C. She attended Cornell University , where she

722-574: The Midwest Women's Caucus for Political Science. In 2000, she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Arkansas. In 2019, Blair was named to the Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. Blair died in 2000. Also in 2000, with the support of President Clinton, funds were obtained from the U.S. Congress to create The Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society at the University of Arkansas. The center director

760-813: The Rights of Man and of the Citizen and, although short-lived, the National Convention was elected by all males in 1792. Universal male suffrage was re-established in France in the wake of the French Revolution of 1848 . Representative democracy came into general favour particularly in post- industrial revolution nation states where large numbers of citizens evinced interest in politics , but where technology and population figures remained unsuited to direct democracy. Many historians credit

798-586: The Roman than the Greek model, because it was a state in which supreme power was held by the people and their elected representatives, and which had an elected or nominated leader. Representative democracy is a form of democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives; as opposed to direct democracy, a form of democracy in which people vote on policy initiatives directly. A European medieval tradition of selecting representatives from

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836-569: The United States in 1787, with a national legislature based partly on direct elections of representatives every two years, and thus responsible to the electorate for continuance in office. Senators were not directly elected by the people until the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. Women, men who owned no property, and Black people, and others not originally given voting rights, in most states eventually gained

874-632: The best book on Arkansas history or culture. Blair became close with Bill and Hillary Clinton when they moved to Arkansas, and in 1980 Bill Clinton appointed Blair to the Commission for the Arkansas Educational Television Network. Blair worked as a researcher on both the Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign and the Bill Clinton 1996 presidential campaign . As President, Bill Clinton appointed Blair to

912-533: The constituents do not fully agree with the decision, then the representative acts as a trustee. The Roman Republic was the first known state in the Western world to have a representative government, despite taking the form of a direct government in the Roman assemblies . The Roman model of governance would inspire many political thinkers over the centuries, and today's modern representative democracies imitate more

950-418: The duty of a representative is not simply to follow the wishes of the electorate but also to use their own judgment in the exercise of their powers, even if their views are not reflective of those of a majority of voters. A representative who chooses to execute the wishes of their constituents acts as a delegate. If the representative chooses to use their best judgment and knowledge in making decisions, even when

988-693: The faculty until she retired in 1997. In 1971, Arkansas Governor Dale Bumpers appointed Blair to chair the Governor's Commission on the Status of Women. In 1975, she debated for the adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment in front of the Arkansas General Assembly , against Phyllis Schlafly . In 1976, Arkansas Governor David Pryor appointed Blair to head a Commission on Public Employee Rights. Blair specialized in

1026-410: The interests or preferences of one or another constituency. The empirical research shows that representative systems tend to be biased towards the representation of more affluent classes to the detriment of the population at large. In his book Political Parties , written in 1911, Robert Michels argues that most representative systems deteriorate towards an oligarchy or particracy . This

1064-415: The interim period between the normal dissolution of parliament for the purpose of holding an election and the formation of a new government after the election results are known. Unlike in ordinary times, the caretaker government's activities are limited by custom and convention. In systems where coalition governments are frequent a caretaker government may be installed temporarily while negotiations to form

1102-418: The iron law of oligarchy: A drawback to this type of government is that elected officials are not required to fulfill promises made before their election and are able to promote their own self-interests once elected, providing an incohesive system of governance. Legislators are also under scrutiny as the system of majority-won legislators voting for issues for the large group of people fosters inequality among

1140-411: The next election but do not want to be accused of unfairness by arranging their own appointments in the interim. Also, sometimes they do not wish to be seen as taking sides within a group of party factions or prejudicing of a primary election by picking someone who is apt to become an active candidate for the position. In some cases, appointment of a caretaker is an opportunity for a Governor to appoint

1178-466: The politics and government of the state of Arkansas, as well as in women and politics, and authored two scholarly books. In 1979 she published Silent Hattie Speaks: The Personal Journal of Senator Hattie Caraway . In 1988 Blair published Arkansas Politics and Government: Do the People Rule? For the book Arkansas politics and government , Blair won the 1991 Virginia Ledbetter Award, awarded for

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1216-497: The system of representative democracy, where representatives are elected. Stochocracy aims to at least reduce this degradation by having all representatives appointed by lottery instead of by voting. Therefore, this system is also called lottocracy. The system was proposed by the writer Roger de Sizif in 1998 in his book La Stochocratie . Choosing officeholders by lot was also the standard practice in ancient Athenian democracy and in ancient India . The rationale behind this practice

1254-582: The towns . Later, in the 17th century, the Parliament of England implemented some of the ideas and systems of liberal democracy , culminating in the Glorious Revolution and passage of the Bill of Rights 1689 . Widening of the voting franchise took place through a series of Reform Acts in the 19th and 20th centuries. The American Revolution led to the creation of a new Constitution of

1292-443: The various estates ( classes , but not as we know them today) to advise/control monarchs led to relatively wide familiarity with representative systems inspired by Roman systems. In Britain, Simon de Montfort is remembered as one of the fathers of representative government for holding two famous parliaments. The first , in 1258, stripped the king of unlimited authority and the second, in 1265, included ordinary citizens from

1330-711: The vote through changes in state and federal law in the course of the 19th and 20th centuries. Until it was repealed by the Fourteenth Amendment following the Civil War , the Three-Fifths Compromise gave a disproportionate representation of slave states in the House of Representatives relative to the voters in free states. In 1789, Revolutionary France adopted the Declaration of

1368-555: Was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, and graduated in 1959. After graduating, she worked in Washington, D.C., including as legislative secretary and speechwriter for Senator Stuart Symington . In 1967, Blair completed an M.A. degree in political science at the University of Arkansas. In 1967, she became a lecturer at the University of Arkansas. She became an assistant professor there in 1979, and remained on

1406-585: Was an American political scientist who specialized in the politics and government of Arkansas as well as on women and politics. She was a professor of political science at the University of Arkansas from 1968 to 1997. She befriended Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton shortly after their arrival in Fayetteville , and was appointed to several public service positions by a succession of governors of Arkansas, including Bill Clinton. Blair remained close to

1444-414: Was to avoid lobbying and electioneering by economic oligarchs. The system of deliberative democracy is a mix between a majority-ruled system and a consensus-based system. It allows for representative democracies or direct democracies to coexist with its system of governance, providing an initial advantage. Diane Blair Diane Frances Divers Kincaid Blair (October 25, 1938—June 26, 2000)

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