Home > 1.1.3 Submission of candidatures > Report on Democracy, Limitation of Mandates and Incompatibility of Political Functions
 
 
 
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Paragraph 23
 

Democracies are not all the same. It is true that some democratic systems foster representation better than others. Certainly, the quality of representation of citizens' interest in the politics of a given country depends widely on the accepted model of selection of the politicians and leadership in that country. American congressmen, for example, should be long-standing residents of the area in which are nominated; in many European democracies there is a tendency for representatives to have their roots in their constituencies (in France and Belgium, for example); previous experience in municipal government is a step towards a parliamentary political career; trade unions have great influence in the selection of Labour members in the British Parliament; there are also “self-starters“ among politicians etc.