Democracy

• What type of democracy do we have in the UK?

  Representative democracy
• What is a representative democracy?

  system where the people are ruled by representatives and decisions are made on their behalf. used across the world
• What are the advantages of a representative democracy?


  The people in charge are professional and can make complex decisions.

  
  

  Elected politicians can be held to account.

  
  

  More practical than direct democracy.
• What are the disadvantages of a representative democracy?

  The public can feel disengaged from politics as they do not make the day-to-day decisions.

  
  

  Politicians and their parties can be open to corruption.

  
  

  Politicians can be selfish and corrupt.
• What is a direct democracy?


  People make decisions for themselves. no representatives or MPs.
• Where does a direct democracy exist?

  No where
• What are the advantages of a direct democracy?

  Everyone participates and feels a sense of civil duty.

  
  

  All citizens' opinions are worth the same.

  
  

  People vote for issues they care about
• What are the disadvantages of a direct democracy?

  impractical if there is daily decision-making by everyone.

  
  

  People are likely to vote selfishly, rather than considering societal impacts.

  
  

  Citizens bored if they are constantly asked to vote
• What are elements of a direct democracy in the UK?

  o Petitions: people can sign if they feel strongly about an issue.

  
  

  o Recall of MPs Act (2015): if enough constituents sign a petition, they can automatically trigger a by-election.

  
  

  o Referendums: public asked directly, rather than their representatives, e.g, 2016 European Union Referendum.
• How does the governement drive legitamancy from the consent of the people?

  o Devolution: powers have been transferred from Westminster to Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and mayors in London and other cities.

  o Independent judiciary: since 2005, the UK judiciary has been a separate branch of government.

  o Free and fair elections: general elections are held ever 5 years, and referendums are held occasionally.
• Why do some argue the UK political system is undemocratic?

  o Unfair voting system: some people feel unrepresented by the first-past-the-post voting system, as an imbalance is produced between votes cast and seats gained.

  
  

  o House of Lords: second chamber of parliament is full of members who weren't elected there. Whilst a range of professions are represented, it is seen by many as undemocratic as the electorate do not choose the Lords.

  
  

  o Protection of citizens' rights: The 1998 Human Rights Act provides inadequate protection of citizens' rights as governments have been known to 'derogate' from the Human Rights Act. Uncodified constitution in the UK, rights are not entrenched, and can be changed by a simple Act of Parliament.
• What are arguments for reforming the political system?

  o Compulsory voting: greater legitimacy, people would feel more educated about politics, works in Australia. However, it could encourage non-serious voting and considered a violation of individual freedom.

  
  

  o Lowering the voting age: voting at 16 would match other aspects of freedom at this age and may help to educate young people about politics. Most 16-year-olds are still in full-time education and don't appreciate factors like housing, and the economy.

  
  

  o Greater use of referenda: this could give government decisions more legitimacy as citizens would be able to vote on important issues. However, divide the public e.g, 2016 European Union referendum.
• What is participation?


  act of affecting the political system:
• How is participation shown?

  o Voting in elections and referendums

  o Engaging on social media

  o Being a member of a political party
• what does apathy mean?

  disenfranchised from the system
• what does haphathy mean?

  happy with current system
• Is voter turnout in general elections falling or increasing?

  Falling
• Why is this an issue?


  make their claim to power more questionable.
• Average voter turnout from 1945-1997?

  76%
• Recent voter turnout?


  averaged 65%.
• What is the turnout for european and local elections?

  always been low, very rarely reaching above 40%. e.g, 2019 37%
• What is the turnout for by-elections?


  low turnout, such as 26% Middlesbrough 2012 and 24% in southend west 2022
• Recent voter turnout for local elections?

  2016: 34%

  Both 2017 + 2018: 35%
• What percent of the electorate have a membership for one of the 3 main parties?

  1.6% of the electorate belongs to one of three main parties, compared to 3.8% in 1983
• Party membership for conservatives

  400,000 in mid 90s, 200,000 in 2021
• Party membership for Labour

  190,000 in early 00s, 580,000 in 2020
• Party membership for Lib dems

  70,000 in early 00s, 121,000 in 2020
• Party membership for SNPs

  25,000 in 2013, 119,000 in 2021.
• Party membership for Greens


  13,800 in 2013, 53,000 in 2021.
• What is eDemocracy- social media ?


  Discussions on Twitter

  Political advertising on Facebook
• What is eDemocracy- epetitions?

  o These are debates on domestic and international issues.

  o 10,000 signatures, it gets a government response.

  100,000 signatures, it is considered for parliamentary debate
• What happened as a result of the 2009expenses scandal?

  many people felt apathetic.

  
  

  MPs across parties claimed expenses for living costs using tax-payer money. Some were sentenced to prison, while others apologised and gave up their seats at the next election.

  
  

  Politicians are now among the least-trusted profession in the Uk.
• Evidence for a participation crisis?

  o Pressure group membership has been increasing in recent years = changing nature of participation.

  
  

  o Over 30,000 petitions on the government's website, showing that people engage in the issues they care about.

  
  

  o Facebook and Twitter have been hubs for political conversation and debate, showing people prefer to engage with politics in a more casual way.

  o Whilst turnout has been lower since 1997, it has recovered since, with a steady increase in turnout between 2001 and 2019.

  
  

  o Scottish Independence referendum in 2014 saw a turnout of 85%, and the European Union referendum in 2016 saw a turnout of 72%.
• Is there a participation crisis? YES


  Turnout in general elections has decreased significantly since the 1990s, suggesting people are more apathetic.

  
  

  New devolved assemblies and parliaments still have very low turnout.

  
  

  European and local elections are known to have very low turnout, usually around 30%.

  
  

  Trust in politicians is very low, with many distrusting MPs because of the expenses scandal in late 2000s
• Is there a participation crisis? NO

  Massive increases in party membership, particularly among third parties.

  
  

  Social media has shown that people are getting involved outside of the ballot box.

  
  

  Turnout at referenda is usually very high, especially in the Scotland 2014 (84.6%) and EU 2016 (72.2%) votes.
• Whats enfranchisement?


  ability to vote in public elections.
• Who does not have enfranchisement ?

  o People under the age of 18

  o citizens from countries other than the UK and Ireland

  o Members of the House of Lords

  o Prisoners

  o Those convicted of a corrupt or illegal electoral practice, who are barred for 5 years

  o People who are detained in a psychiatric hospital.

  o The Monarch
• What changed enfranchisment in the 2014 scottish referendum?

  right to vote was given to 16+17-year-olds.
• who have scotland also recently increased enfranchisment to?

  2020, some prisoners were given the right to vote for future Scottish parliamentary election
• What is the history of enfranchisement of middle ages to the 19th century?

  There were two types of constituencies: counties and boroughs.

  ◦ Counties, vote was restricted to men with a property worth. Wealthy men with multiple properties could vote in more than constituency if their properties were located in.

  ◦ Women couldn't vote.