Abstract
One may accept, as Dahl did, that representative democracy is a means to democratise a government. Yet, representative democracy is far from being a true democracy, both restricting and promoting popular rule.
The concept of representative democracy derived from the criticism of absolutism, held by the liberal philosophers of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Representative democracy fully theorized in the 20th century was first aim to promote popular rule. Yet, that particular form of democracy is nothing but a compromise between a true democracy- that is the power of the many- and an oligarchic government- that is the power of the few. Representative democracy also restrict popular rule ...
