s of which they are a part, filling in the roles not given to the government and offering individuals opportunities to exercise their rights and responsibilities. In authoritarian society, all such organizations would be controlled and monitored by the government. In a democracy, the powers of the government are, by law, defined and limited. As a result these organizations are free of government control. The pillars of democracy may be said to be:
             • Government based upon the consent of the governed
             • Majority rule and Minority rights
             • Constitutional limits on the government
             Democracies fall into two categories, direct and representative. In a direct democracy, all citizens can participate in the making of decisions. This system though, is in reality only practical with a small number of people (tribal council, community organization, or a labor union) in which the members can gather together in one place and arrive at decisions made by consensus or majority vote. Today, in our more complex and larger nations, the most common form of democracy is a representative democracy, in which citizens elect officials to rule and create laws. This enables the officials to make decisions in a thoughtful and organized manner that requires investment of time and energy that is simply not possible by the large number of private citizens.
             Belize is a parliamentary democracy that comprises of three branches, the Legislative, the Executive and the Judicial branches. The constitution of Belize provides for a bi-cameral Legislature called the National Assembly made up of a House of Representatives and a Senate. The House of Representatives comprises of 29 mem
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