1.1 Representative and Direct Democracy

• A representative democracy is a form of democracy in which voters elect representatives to make political decisions on their behalf. These representatives are then held accountable to the public in regular elections.
• Advantages of a representative democracy include: 1. govt is carried out by well-informed about political issues 2. they balance conflicting interests, protecting the rights of all citizens and ensuring the implications of decisions have been thoroughly examined. 3. on contraversial issues they balance the benefits to the majority with the more negative for the minority. 4. comprisies the principle of accountability - if the public do not approve they can elect another MP - Recall of MPs act 2015
• Disadvantages of a representative democracy:

  • MPs represent a metropolitan elite of traditional values, leading to disengagement with the public and their interests
  • The media establishes a self-perpetuating Westminster 'bubble', disconnecting representatives from important issues for their constituents
  • MPs having second jobs can create conflicts, as seen with Owen Paterson's resignation in 2021 for lobbying on behalf of companies that employed him
  • First Past the Post (FPTP) system makes MPs unrepresentative due to the two-party system
  • House of Lords (HoL) is unelected
• Criticism of Parliament: 1. socially exclusive and therefore unrepresentative of the interest of contemporary society. However in the 2019 election was the most diverse with 34% women, 10% ethical minority, 7% LGBT, 29% privately educated. However, some argue that MPs don't need to share the same charactersitics as a group to represent their interests - Legislation advancing LGBT rights has been passed predominantly by heterosexual parliament.