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Singapore has a multi-party parliamentary system of representative democracy in which the President of Singapore is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Singapore is the head of government. Executive power is vested in the President and the Cabinet. Cabinet has the general direction and control of the government and is collectively responsible to the Parliament. There are three separate branches of government: the legislature, executive and judiciary. Representative democracy began in the 1940s when the number of elected seats in the legislature gradually increased, until a fully elected Legislative Assembly of Singapore was established in 1958. At present, Singapore legislation establishes various mechanisms that fulfil the doctrine of representative democracy. Parliamentary elections in Singapore are required to be held regularly to elect the Parliament through universal suffrage. Although the right to vote in Singapore law is not expressly mentioned in the Constitution, the Government has affirmed that the right may be implied into the constitutional text. The Constitution vests the three branches of the state with different aspects of governmental power. The executive is made up of the President and the Cabinet, which is headed by the Prime Minister. The Cabinet is accountable to the electorate and is an embodiment of representative democracy. The President is elected by the people to act as a constitutional safeguard in protecting the national reserves and preserving the integrity of the public service. To qualify as a presidential candidate, stringent criteria must be satisfied. The Constitution further provides for the composition of a parliament which encompasses members of parliament (MPs) elected through Single Member Constituencies and Group Representation Constituencies, Non-constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) and Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs). MPs are representatives of the electorate and have the role of raising concerns that the people may have. The Government's view is that representative democracy is better understood as regarding political parties rather than individual MPs as the fundamental element in the political system. While the judiciary is not a direct manifestation of the concept of representative democracy, it serves as a check on the Government and the legislature by ensuring that their powers are exercised within the limits established by the Constitution, such as the fundamental liberties in Part IV. The right to freedom of speech and expression, which is guaranteed to Singapore citizens by Article 14 of the Constitution of Singapore, is essential to the concept of representative democracy. Mechanisms available for the exercise of the right include the freedom of speech and debate in Parliament, Speakers' Corner, and the new media. However, Article 14 enables Parliament to restrict the right to free speech on various grounds. One of these is the protection of reputation. Critics have charged that Cabinet ministers and members of the ruling People's Action Party have used civil defamation suits against opposition politicians to inhibit their activities and exclude them from Parliament. The Government has said that there is no evidence substantiating such claims. In addition, both media ownership and content are carefully regulated by the Government. Article 14 protects the right to freedom of assembly which is relevant to free speech as the latter is often exercised at assemblies and gatherings. Free assembly is restricted in Singapore through laws that require permits to be obtained before events are held, though an exception is made for indoor events involving organizers and speakers who are citizens. The Government has been accused of slowing down the progress of democracy by using the to detain political opponents and suppress political criticism. In response, the Government has asserted that no person has been detained purely for their political beliefs. ==Government's understanding of representative democracy== Representative democracy has been described as "a system of government where the people in free elections elect() their representatives to the legislative chamber which occupies the most powerful position in the political system".〔, citing, among others, .〕 The meaning of the term was discussed in the Parliament of Singapore on 27 August 2008 upon a motion moved by Nominated Member of Parliament Thio Li-ann, a professor of constitutional law at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law, for the House to affirm the importance of representative democracy and to call on the Government to amend the Parliamentary Elections Act〔 ("PEA").〕 to make the calling of by-elections mandatory in Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) in certain situations. According to Thio, under the view of representative democracy taken by the 18th-century British Member of Parliament (MP) and philosopher Edmund Burke, "an MP is no mere delegate who simply mouths his constituents' views. An MP is chosen for his 'mature judgment' and 'enlightened conscience.'" Thus, an MP "has to represent his constituents in tending to municipal affairs", but also "be concerned with national affairs", and, "as a party member, he must toe the party line". In addition, an MP of a minority ethnic group in a GRC "has to carry the concerns of his particular minority community as well". For this reason, she felt that if the seat of a minority MP in a GRC became vacant, it should be incumbent on the Government to call a by-election to fill it.〔.〕 Opposing the motion, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong noted that the Burkean model of representative democracy "puts the emphasis on choosing candidates to become MPs as the fundamental element of the whole scheme", with the result that "if an MP dies or resigns, ... he has to be replaced, so a by-election has to be held promptly without delay". However, in the Government's view, representative democracy is better understood as having an "emphasis on choosing political parties to form the government and to have political parties as the fundamental element in the system":〔.〕 Consequently, if a parliamentary seat falls vacant mid-term, it does not have to be filled immediately as "()he vacancy does not affect the mandate of the Government, nor its ability to deliver on its programmes or promises. And this mandate continues until the next general election is called, when the incumbent team will render account to the electorate." The Prime Minister said that the Singapore system of government was based on this model for two reasons: first, to "encourage voters to think very carefully when they are voting during general elections, because you are not only voting for your representative in the constituency, you are voting for the government in the country"; and, secondly, "to maximise the chances of a stable, effective government in between general elections".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Representative democracy in Singapore」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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