Current systems of democracy

• For democracy to work there need to be numerous political parties like Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats
• Positives of UK Representation

  • Parliament represents constituents and holds the government to account
  • All citizens are represented by an MP
• Negatives of UK Representation

  • Parliament is ineffective and is dominated by the overall majority
  • the unelected House of Lords can delay laws
  • Many MPs ignore the concerns of their constituents
  • Minorities are under-represented
• Proof of falling participation over the last 50 years in the UK

  1950 - 84%

  1979 - 76%

  2001 - 59%

  2011 - 49 %
• [more] Proof of falling Participation

  • Party membership has fallen since 1980
  • Public disillusion leads to partisan dealignment
  • Voter registration is lower in younger generations
  • Trust in politicians has been undermined, for example with sexual harassment allegation
  • partygate, expenses, Matt hancock, Dominic rabb
• Features of a representative democracy

  • regular, competitveve elections
  • civil liberties must be protected
  • elections must be contested by multiple parties
  • an independent judiciary
  • an assembly which reflects the make-up of society
• Advantages of a Representative democracy

  • Professional politicians make the decisions
  • Minority views are considered and upheld
  • elected politicians are held to account by the people
  • Most practical form of Democracy
• Disadvantages of Representative Democracy

  • citizens are disengaged from politicians
  • tightly controlled parties result in politicians lacking independence
  • politicians are skilled at swerving accountability
  • Politicians are open to corruption and self-interest
• Features of a Direct Democracy

  • Regular referenda
  • people regulate and make decisions
  • in its purest form, there is no government
  • Switzerland
• Advantages of a Direct Democracy

  • everyone in society participates
  • people make the decisions in their interest
  • All citizens voices are equal
  • It is the purest form of democracy
• Disadvantages of a Direct Democracy

  • Impractical to achieve securely as it requires all citizens to be involved in decision-making
  • citizens become apathetic if asked to participate too often
  • people will vote for their own interests, not societies
  • tyranny of the majorty
• Democratic deficit - Underrepresentation of Minority viewpoints

  The House of commons uses FPTP to elect gov. which produces a mismatch between seats and percentage of votes
• Democractic deficit - House of Lords

  The HoL is wholly unelected, attempts at proper reform have failed, lacks legitimacy
• Democratic Deficit - Lack of protection of citizens' rights.

  governments can "derogate from" the ECHR meaning parts of it no longer have authority in certain situations
• Democratic Deficit - Control of sections of the media

  the Murdoch group have owned multiple British newspapers such as The Sun, The Times, and The Sunday Times
• Participation Crisis- Voter Turnout

  Yes - 2001 general election 59%

  Yes - Average turnout in local English elections in May 2016 33%

  No - Modest recovery in turnout in the last 3 elections (67% in 2019)

  No - local elections are less important to the people than a general election
• Participation crisis - Party Membership

  Yes - Tories had 150,000 members in 2016 = a downfall from 400,000 in the mid 90s

  Yes - only 1.6% of the electorate in 2016 belonged to one of the 3 central parties

  No - rise in membership in smaller parties (SNP raising nearly 100,000 memebers from 2013-2016)

  No - Labour had 432,000 members in 2021
• Other areas of participation

  • membership of pressure groups has been increasing (515 Just Stop Oil protests between April and July across the UK)
  • People feel "conventional politics" has let them down
  • Digital engagement (1.8 Million people signed the road-charging e-petition in 2007)
  • Voter apathy - people were content with the state of the UK in 2001 so a low turnout rate
  • Interaction depends on the issue (Scottish independence 84%)
  • distrust in politicians and belief voting doesn't change anything (Expenses scandal)