democracy and participation

• in the 2017 election where there had been a 72.2 percent turnout for the EU referendum yet there only being 68.8% valid turnout on the GE
• in the 72.2 percent of the EU 64% of registered 18-24 voters had turned up
• The Scottish Independence 2014 referendum - 97% of those who could registering to vote with 10% of those being 'first-time' voters.

  • 109,000 16-17-year olds also voted with 97% saying they would vote again. The overall turnout was 84.6%
• • EU referendum, there were 38 million interactions related to it from March 2016 to June 2016.
• in the 2019 election there was A TURNOUT of 67 percent compared to 1979 where there was a turnout of 76 percent
• purdah in representative democracy means that in the period before an election or vote members of government or local councils are not allowed to make any new statements that could affect the way in which people vote- period is between 4 and 6 weeks that could target swing voters or those in political apathy to come out and vote
• In 2015 the average age of MPs was 50 years old
• In 2015 12% of MPs were women
• In 2019, 46.5 million people were eligible to vote but only 37.2 million actually did so
• an unelected hereditary monarchy and unelected house of lords undermine the concept of representative democracy- House of Lords reform in 1999 had reduced the number down to 92 hereditary peers remain. Accusations of cronyism also follow which make the undemocratic house of lords appear even more so (Evgeny Lebedev and Cruddas)
• The West Lothian Question: why should Scottish MPs vote on issues and topics that impact other people outside of their constituency? can be seen with the increase in student tuition fees in England and Wales in 2004 only being passed by Scottish MPS
• universal suffrage covers approximately 71.5 percent of all the current UK population
• the Scottish Parliament extended the franchise in local elections and to some prisoners in 2020, The welsh parliament extended to 16 and 17 year olds in welsh local and parliamentary elections
• 200 years ago only 2.7 percent of the population had suffrage, shows changing nature of democracy and evolution, shows Britain is more evolved
• prisoner voting rights- should happen as removing it removes their civic responsibility, harder to rehabilitate, ECHR says the blanket ban on prisoners is a violation of the Human Rights Act in 1998
• 'slacktivism' 'is seen as political participation being a bit 'lazy' and 'slack' increases participation online, engagement and debating online, however clicking 'like' is a limited form of participation. Anonymous comments are also weak and undemocratic
• introducing compulsory voting? works in australia and belgium where turnout rates are typically 93 percent and 96 percent. perhaps introducing a fine? people would take more interest in political issues
• the population of the UK is much bigger than before, The highest turnout ever was in 1951 with 83.3 turnout with 28.8 million people voting, but in 2019 a 'low' turnout was 67.3 percent with just over 32 million people voting
• two major parties dominate the electoral landscape, receiving 80-90 percent of the vote