It is a tortuous process, and although the MEPs have significant input into the final legislation, it is the Council of Ministers, which is not directly elected, who have the real power.

BBC: My week as an MEP - Tuesday

These upper-chamber representatives would not be directly elected by the people, but they would still be elected tribunes of the people.

ECONOMIST: Letters

In rural China, party control at the grassroots is similarly under assault as power shifts to village chiefs (many of them not party members) directly elected by villagers.

ECONOMIST: Behind China's closed doors