Authors: Duhamel & Mény
Summary: In about 600 words, this entry starts with the definition of the concept. Election is a way to delegate the power, on the base of a vote choice. The election was already used in some ancient form of government, such as the democracy of Athens or the Roman republic, but it is only at the end of 18th century that the election procedure became usual and consistent with the idea of democracy (representative democracy). Election is strictly linked to the concept of sovereignty in both the versions of national sovereignty and of popular sovereignty. The first one is an abstract and indivisible sovereignty, in which citizens have the function of expressing national will; the second one, is the case of direct democracy because the voter owns and exercises individually and directly his quota of sovereignty.
The author suggests that the debate shifted from the forms of democracy to the choice of types of suffrage (universal or limited; direct or indirect) and of electoral formulas (majority, plurality, proportional, and so on). After a list of types of formulas, the author wonders if, after all, democracy is nothing more than a procedure to elect representatives.