A-level politics

• Power


  The ability to make people do things ( that they may not want to do )
• Authority


  The given right to influence other people's behaviour and actions
• Government legitimacy


  If a government is seen as legitimate then its widely accepted that it has the right to hold power / authority and make rules
• Demoncracy


  The idea that political decisions should be influenced by the all people not just a privileged few
• What is a direct democracy?


  When the population votes directly on an issue ( e.g. referendums)
• What is representative ( indirect) democracy ?

  The people vote on a representative who then votes directly on an issue in parliament
• Advantages of direct democracy

  Pure democracy, encourage participation, prevents a concentration of power.
• Pure democracy


  Gives a true picture of what the public wants
• Disadvantages of direct democracy

  population size, costly, time , tyranny of the majority
• Advantages of representative democracy

  more practical, representatives have more knowledge, prevents tyranny of the majority
• Disadvantage of representative democracy


  Representatives may not reflect the public's views, party influence, low public interest, hard for small parties to get into power
• Where was modern democracy born?

  Athens
• The delegate role


  Representatives acting as a mouth piece for the wishes of the electorate
• The representative role ( Burkee role)

  Representatives should act on their conscience as to what is best regardless of party and electorate's views.
• Legisative Power ( USA)


  Making laws. This power being exercised by parliament
• Executive power (USA)


  Carrying out laws. Exercised by the executive/ government
• Judicial power (USA)


  Interpreting / enforcing laws. Exercised by courts/ the 'law
• What do with have in the UK with legislature, executive and courts that there isn't in the US ?

  In the UK we have an overlap of these powers. In the US there is no overlap
• Bill


  A preposed law is called a bill until its signed by the monarch
• Legislation


  The passage of a bill ( law making )
• What quote is used to describe democracy ?

  Government of the people , by the people, for the people
• Party discipline


  When a government forces its MPs to vote on the party line effectively steamrolling unpopular legislation
• Hapathy


  When voters abstain from voting because they are content with their lives as they are
• What % of people in the UK are party members?

  Less than 1% of the UK population are party members
• Why is decline in party membership a problem ?

  - Reduces party funding as their pool of campaigners is smaller

  -smaller group of applicants being put up for election within the party

  - A smaller group of people influencing the direction of the party
• What was the lowest turnout for a general election in the UK?

  2001- 59%
• What was the turnout in the 2010 Welsh assembly ?

  35.2%
• What did the 2013 British social attitudes survey find?

  32% don't trust the government
• Name two events in recent years that have created distrust around politicians for the people

  The lockdown parties. Brexit.
• Why in 2024 is hapathy not a big reason why people don't vote?

  Due to the cost of living crisis people are not living as nice of lifestyles as they may have been prior to this so they now want a change in government to fix it
• Why is low turnout a problem?

  It erodes a governments legitimacy. It also makes it easier for smaller more radical parties to gain power.
• What was the % turnout in Brexit 2012?

  72.2%
• What was the turnout in the Scottish independence referendum ?

  84.5% ( this included 16-17 year old voters )
• What was the turnout on the good Friday agreement 1998?

  81%
• Why is the voting turnout for referendums usually higher than general elections?

  Because in a referendum there is usually a great demand by the public in order for them to happen
• Why can the old % turnout of a general election not be compared with a current % turnout?

  Because the population is greater now
• Though party membership has declined has support declined ?

  It can be argued that most people jump to smaller parties such as the leave Brexit party and the greens that cover smaller issues that they have more support for compared to bigger parties. Then these nesher parties grow and grown until the problem is solved due to overwhelming public support.
• What is single issue politics ?

  Political campaign that is soaly focused on one single policy or idea
• What did Ferdinand Mount , who lead the power inquiry, find about young people specifically?

  He found that young people are more likely to join pressure groups or social movements instead of political parties. And take place in single issue politics.
• What are pressure groups?

  a group that tries to influence public policy in the interest of a particular cause.