In
representative democracies
Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...
, a mandate (or seat) is the authority granted by a
constituency to act as its representative.
Elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...
, especially ones with a large margin of victory, are often said to give the newly elected government or elected official an implicit mandate to put into effect certain policies.
[Glossary , Elections ACT. Jul 2012. http://www.elections.act.gov.au/glossary (cf., ''The Government's claim that once elected they have the right and responsibility to implement their policies''.)] When a government seeks re-election they may introduce new policies as part of the campaign and are hoping for approval from the voters, and say they are seeking a "new mandate". Governments and elected officials may use language of a "mandate" to lend legitimacy to actions that they take in office.
In some languages, a "mandate" can mean a
parliamentary
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
seat won in an election rather than the electoral victory itself. In case such a mandate is bound to the wishes of the electorate, it is an imperative mandate, otherwise it is called "free".
See also
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Consent of the governed
In political philosophy, the phrase consent of the governed refers to the idea that a government's legitimacy and moral right to use state power is justified and lawful only when consented to by the people or society over which that political pow ...
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Election promise
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Government platform
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Legitimacy
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Party platform
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Referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
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Social contract
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
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Doctrine of Mandate. A dictionary of political phrases and allusions: with a short bibliography By Hugh Montgomery, Philip George Cambray.
Further reading
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Democracy
Elections
Political philosophy
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