Is Large-Scale Democracy/Republicanism Possible?

[Lord Iames Osari]

Basically, I'm wondering if there is a scale at which democracy becomes infeasible because there are either too many representatives to form a meaningful consensus on any issue, or there are too few representatives to give each citizen the representation they deserve.

Is there such a scale, and if so, at what point is it reached? Is there a way for these pitfalls to be avoided?

[SirNitram]

The scale where the system breaks down will correspond to transport and communications technology. As they improve, the limit will extend outward.

[Lord Iames Osari]

How large a republic would you say our current level of technology can support? How large a democracy?

[SirNitram]

How large a republic would you say our current level of technology can support? How large a democracy?

I would peg Republic at around the size of the USA: Continent spanning. Democracies are much, much smaller; I'd say a direct democracy couldn't get much bigger than a large city.

[frigidmagi]

It also honestly depends on the make up of the republic. A aristocratic republic where elites have more control and representation in the government (say like a House of Lords with the power of the purse and such, or the current French system) could theortically be larger then a more population based republic like Canada, Britian or the US.

In real life however, the largest republics are in terms of land mass and population combined India and the U.S. They are not aristocratic republics but do have elites within the power structures.

As for a democracy... Well it's an open question as to how much impact will the internet have on that possibility. Currently though there are no democracies in the world. There are many, many republics, dictitiorships and kingdoms.

[Destructionator XV]

I think that as a republic gets bigger, federalism gets more and more attractive, simply because if you have a big problem, breaking it up into several smaller problems often helps. This adds some administrative overhead, but also adds some finer control over the local situation, presumably by people who know the area and the people, staying close, while at the same time keeping the nation unified as a whole.