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

Gwent Police Authority's Cilla Davies expressed concerns that plans to replace police authorities with directly elected police commissioners would not truly represent the divergent communities that exist in Wales.

BBC: Communities and Culture Committee

There will not be elections in London as the role now comes under the office of the directly elected mayor.

BBC: Police and Crime Commissioners - new structure in graphics