在传统的观念中民主被等同于多数统治。代议制的兴起表明古典民主人人轮番为治的直接民主成为历史,但是作为民主决策的基本规则,代议制民主依然坚信民主统治的合法性在于竞争中获得多数支持的一方。英国是代议制民主的发源地,威斯敏斯特宫是现代议会之母,同时也是政党政治的诞生地,两党竞争和权力集中是威斯敏斯特民主的典型特征,在这一体制下获胜的多数“胜者通吃”,而少数则被排除在权力之外,因此威斯敏斯特民主又被称为多数主义民主。作为代议制民主的典范,威斯敏斯特民主自产生以来就以高效和稳定而著称,因而备受西方学者的青睐。相反,欧洲大陆国家如法国、意大利等国民主政体的低效和动荡却与威斯敏斯特民主政体形成了鲜明的对比。...The rise of representative democracy means that the classic rule of direct democracy of everyone in turn has become history, but as the basic rules of democratic decision-making, representative democracy always believed the legitimacy of democratic rule is still firmly based on support of majority in competition of different political groups. Britain is the birthplace of representative democracy, ...学位:法学博士院系专业:公共事务学院政治学系_政治学理论学号:1382008015005