Democracy and Participation

• legitimacy


  the rightful use of power in accordance with pre-set criteria or widely held agreements, such as a govt right to rule following an election
• direct democracy


  all individuals express their opinions themselves and not through representatives
• representative democracy

  a more modern form of democracy through which an individual selects a person to act on their behalf and excercise their political choice
• pluralist democracy

  govt makes decisions as a result of an interplay of various ideas and contrasting arguments
• democratic deficit

  a flaw in the democratic process where decisions are taken by people who lack legitimacy
• participation crisis

  a lack of engagemet from a significant number of citizens in the political process i.e not voting or not joining a political party
• franchise/suffrage

  ability/right to vote in public elections
• think tanks

  a body of experts brought together to collectively focus on a certain topic
• lobbyists

  paid by clients to try to influence the govt or MPs to act in their interest