In Direct Democracy, the people vote on every issue. In Representative Democracy, the people vote for representatives, who then vote on every issue. Nearly all democracies
…are representative. Although this means representatives may not always represent the will of the people, the problem with asking the public to vote on every issue is that they probably wouldn't bother. Forms of direct democracy you often see are referendums (when the government asks people to vote on an issue). Also, two cantons of Switzerland have an "Open Parliament" every year, where people are invited to discuss and vote on issues. Both also have a conventional elected assembly. (MORE)