Valencia Civic Literacy Practice Exam 2026 - Free Civic Literacy Practice Questions and Study Guide

The correct answer is representative democracy. This term specifically describes a system of governance in which citizens elect representatives to make decisions and pass laws on their behalf. In the context of the U.S. Congress, voters in each state select individuals to represent their interests at the federal level, ensuring that the government is accountable to the electorate.

Representative democracy is foundational to the structure of the U.S. government, emphasizing the role of elected officials who are responsible for making policy decisions based on the preferences and needs of their constituents. This system enables a more manageable means of governance compared to direct democracy, where every citizen would be required to vote on every single piece of legislation.

Direct democracy refers to a system where citizens engage in decision-making directly rather than through elected representatives. While participatory democracy involves a broader range of civic engagement and active involvement by citizens, representative democracy remains the official structure of the U.S. political system, particularly concerning congressional representation. Indirect democracy is often used interchangeably with representative democracy, but it does not capture the specific electoral process for Congress as accurately as the latter term does. Thus, representative democracy aptly describes the mechanism by which voters choose their congressional representatives.