What is one example of direct democracy in the united state government system?

Answer 1

As the entire Federal government system is a form of representative republic, there is no direct democracy in the Federal system. In fact, the system was specifically designed to remove the possibility of direct democracy, as the Founding Fathers feared the power of mass public opinion was far too easy to abuse.

At the state level, the governments are also organized as a representative republic. However, certain states use what are called Initiatives (or Propositions) to pass major laws or state constitutional adjustments, in addition to those passed by the state legislature. These can be argued to be a form of direct democracy, as the voters are directly voting on something to become law. Strictly speaking, these usually aren't a true direct democracy item, as pretty much all Initiatives must first be approved by a state's legislature before being presented to the voters. In many states, though, this legislative approval is more of a pro-forma vote, as tradition indicates that any Initiative which has acquired sufficient momentum to make to the legislature deserves to be voted on by the public-at-large.

At the local level, a notable number of cities and towns are run on the Town Meeting concept (particularly those in New England). This is pretty much classic direct democracy, where periodic meetings of all residents are held to approve various measures and decisions by town officials. That is, while there are still elected officials of the town government expected to carry out day-to-day operations, most significant decisions require explicit approval at a Town Meeting by the citizenry.