Key Words

• Democratic deficit: A flaw in the democratic process where decisions are taken by people who lack legitimacy, not having been appointed with sufficient democratic input or subject to accountability. House of lords unelected hereditary.
• Participation crisis: A lack of engagement by a significant number of citizens with the political process either by choosing not to vote or to join/become members of political parties or to offer themselves for public office. In the 2019 general election, the turnout was only 67.3%
• Franchise/suffrage: both refer to the ability/right to vote in public elections. Suffragettes were women campaigning for the right to vote on the same terms as men. 1928: Women in England, Wales and Scotland received the vote on the same terms as men.
• Think tanks: A body of experts brought together to collectively focus on a certain topic(s) – to investigate/offer solutions to often complicated economic, social or political issues. The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world".
• • Lobbyists: is paid by clients to try to influence the government and/or MPs and members of the House of Lords to act in their clients’ interests, particularly when legislation is under consideration. Between 2002 and 2007 British Airport Authority (BAA) officials met with the Department for Transport 117 times about the expansion of Heathrow airport. 3 types: Direct Lobbying, Grassroots Lobbying and Electoral Lobbying.
• Left wing: term for those who desire change, reform and alteration to the way in which society operates. Often this involves radical criticisms of the capitalism made by liberal and socialist parties. Green party, labour
• Right wing: term reflects support for the status quo, little or no change, stressing the need for order, stability and hierarchy – generally relates to Conservative parties.
• Class dealignment: process where individuals no longer identify themselves as belonging to a certain class and for political purposes fail to make a class connection with their voting pattern. 2019 election 1/2 middle/working labour slightly more working class
• Partisan dealignment: process where individuals no longer identify themselves on a long-term basis with a certain political party. Labour only managed to keep 72% of their 2017 voters in 2019.
• Mandate: the successful party following an election claims it has the authority (mandate) to implement its manifesto promises and also a general permission to govern as new issues arise
• First-past-the-post (FPTP): electoral system where the person with the most number of votes is elected (in each constituency). Victory is achieved by having one more vote than other contenders – it is also called a plurality system. Used for westminster.
• Additional Member System (AMS): hybrid electoral system, the voter makes two choices. Firstly, the voter selects a representative on a simple plurality (FPTP) system then a second vote is apportioned to a party list for a second or ‘additional’ representative. The Scottish Parliament uses the (AMS), to elect MSPs. It consists of 73 FPTP constituencies and 8 regional lists.
• Single Transferable Vote (STV): system allows voters to rank their voting preferences in numerical order. In order to obtain a seat, a candidate must obtain a quota (50%). After the votes are cast, those with the least votes are eliminated and their votes transferred and those candidates with excess votes above the quota also have their votes transferred. Used in Northern Ireland Assembly
• Supplementary Vote (SV): A majoritarian system. The voter makes two choices (‘supplementary’). If one candidate obtains over 50% on the first vote then the contest is complete. If no candidate attains this level, all but the top two candidates are eliminated. Then the supplementary choices are re-distributed and whoever gets most votes from the remaining two, wins the seat. Used mayors, police and crime commissioners was ended by the Elections Act in 2022.
• Safe seat: seat in which has a considerable majority over the closest rival and which is largely immune from swings in voting choice. The same political party retains the seat from election to election. The safest Labour seat in the UK is Liverpool Walton, and the safest Conservative seat is Buckingham.
• Marginal Seat: A seat with a small majority. There is no precise percentage/winning margin to which this aligns but a 10% margin would need only a swing of 5% to the rival party to take it. Marginal seats are important as they are where the outcomes of elections are decided. Examples of traditionally marginal seats in the United Kingdom include Bolton West and Thurrock.
• Minority government: A government that enters office but does not have a majority of seats in the legislature (Parliament). This makes passing legislation very difficult. May announced her intention to form confidence and supply of the DUP; a agreement between the 2 parties was signed.
• Coalition government: A government that is formed of more than one political party. It is normally accompanied by an agreement over policy options and office of state, as was the Conservative-Liberal-Democrat coalition from 2010 to 2015
• Pluralist democracy: A type of democracy in which a government makes decisions as a result of the interplay of various ideas and contrasting arguments from competing groups and organisations. An example is the suffragette movement.
• Representative democracy: A form of democracy through which an individual selects a person (and/or political party) to act on their behalf to exercise political choice.
• Direct democracy: All individuals express their opinions themselves. This type of democracy emerged in Athens in classical times and direct democracy can be seen today in referendums.
• Legitimacy: The rightful use of power in accordance with pre-set criteria/widely-held agreements, such as a government’s right to rule following an election or a monarch’s succession based on the agreed rules.
• Old Labour (social democracy): Key Labour principles embodying nationalisation, redistribution of wealth and the provision of continually improving welfare/state services, which largely rejected Thatcherite/ free-market reforms or a Blairite approach.
• New Labour (Third Way): A revision of the traditional Labour values. Influenced by Anthony Giddens, the ‘Third Way’ saw Labour shift in emphasis from a heavy focus on the working class to a wider class base, and a less robust alliance with the trade unions.
• One Nation: A paternalistic approach adopted by Conservatives under the leadership of Benjamin Disraeli in the 19th century and continued by David Cameron and Theresa May in the 21st century, that the rich have an obligation to help the poor.
• New Right There are two elements – 1 the neo Conservatives who want the state to take a more authoritarian approach to morality and law and order 2 the neo-liberals who endorsed the free-market approach and the rolling back of the state in people’s lives and businesses. Thatcherism.
• Classical liberalism is a philosophy developed by early liberals who believed that individual freedom would best be achieved with the state playing a minimal role. Victories were the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, the Reform Act of 1832 and the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846.
• Modern liberalism emerged as a reaction against free-market capitalism, believing this had led to many individuals not being free. Freedom could no longer simply be defined as ‘being left alone’
• Party systems: way or manner in which the political parties in a political system are grouped and structured. There are several variants that could apply to the UK, these include one-party dominant, two-party, two-and-a-half party and multi-party systems. coalition, northern ireland