The theoretical advantages of direct democracy are quite appealing:
- Dramatic reduction or elimination of the power of political parties.
- Reduction of the influence of special interests (corporations and labor unions).
- Reduction of political "horse-trading" and "pork-barrel" deals.
As a result, someone who belongs to a majority group would prefer pure democracy. However, there are several weaknesses of direct democracy:
- There is no incentive to protect minority rights, property rights or personal liberty ("tyranny of the majority"). This is sometimes summarized by the aphorism (misattributed to Benjamin Franklin), "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch".
- The public is frequently ill-informed on complex issues.
- Public opinion is easily manipulated by the media.
- The public is susceptible to popular delusions ("the madness of crowds").
- Public opinion is unduly influenced by recent events and ignorant of the lessons of history.
- The near-term self-interests of the public, even though they may form a majority, may be contrary to the long-term best interest of the population as a whole (similar to the "tragedy of the commons"). Some would argue that this is true of representative democracy, as well.
