Direct representation

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Direct representation^[1] or proxy representation^[2] is a form of representative democracy where voters can vote for any candidate in the land, and each representative's vote is weighted in proportion to the number of citizens who have chosen that candidate to represent them.

Direct representation is similar to interactive representation.

Direct representation is in contrast to other forms of representative democracy. In winner-take-all system, the winners of plurality contests in the districts, party election or other voting, has one vote in the assembly irrespective of how many votes he or she received. As well, under direct representation, the group represented by the member is voluntary and of similar sentiment unlike under First-past-the-post voting where voters are arbitrarily lumped together by geography, not grouped by sentiment.

Direct representation is similar to proportional representation and STV systems in that each elected member is elected through the support of a similar number of votes but is different in that in list PR systems the number of representatives allotted to each party or political faction is roughly in proportion to the number of voters supporting each party or faction - voters do not vote for individual candidates as directly as under direct representation.^[1]

Direct representation is seen by its supporters as an optimal compromise between pure direct democracy and conventional representative democracy, as legislative decisions will more closely reflect the pure will of the people yet will still be carried out by a "wise", "experienced" or professional group of informed and accountable elected representatives. Because any voter can vote for any candidate in the land, direct representation is unaffected by any division into districts, and thus not susceptible to gerrymandering. Districts only serve a logistical purpose in organizing the elections.

It also avoids disenfranchisement of large voter groups, that are only slightly in the minority, in cases where the electorate is split nearly evenly in its choice for representation, yet the preferred representative of only one faction must be chosen to represent the entire electorate of a party or district.^[1]