Citizenship Paper 1

• Opportunities for citizens to participate in democracy


  • Voting
  • Elections
  • Referendums
  • Membership of political parties
  • Joining interest groups
  • Joining pressure groups
  • Joining protest groups
  • Use of social media
  • Petitions
  • Magistracy
  • Civil courts
• Barriers to effective citizen participation in democracy


  • Age (many things require being 18+)
  • Time and money limitations
  • Membership of political parties, interest groups, pressure groups requiring subscription
  • Extensive time involvement
  • Apathy and indifference
  • Misinformation and fake/biased news
• Joining an interest group


  • Advantages: Get involved with a cause you believe in, Meet like-minded and sympathetic friends, Further a cause and do good in your community

  Disadvantages: Echo chamber phenomenon, Online trolling and abuse, Time and money commitments required
• Joining a political party


  • Advantages: Potential progression/career, Influence policy and individuals, Support a philosophy/individual you agree with

  Disadvantages: Cost of joining, Effort and time required, Potential alienation from friends/family
• Standing as a candidate for election


  • Advantages: Raised profile and status, Ability to influence the debate and get your voice heard

  Disadvantages: Time, effort, and money commitment, Opening yourself up for abuse and ridicule
• Roles of interest groups and pressure groups


  • Campaign for or against a particular cause or policy
  • Represent a specific group of people
  • Raise awareness of a problem or issue
• Examples of interest groups and pressure groups


  • Stonewall (LGBTQ+ rights)

  Extinction Rebellion (environment and climate change)

  Leave.EU (Brexit)

  Fathers 4 Justice (estranged fathers' rights)

  Britain First (English nationalist)

  Uncaged (retired greyhounds)
• Roles of trade unions


  • Represent employees in the workplace

  Campaign for employee rights within industry

  Organize and vote on industrial action

  Provide advice and guidance to members
• Examples of trade unions


  • Unison

  PCS (civil service)

  CWU (Communication Workers Union)

  National Union of Students
• Roles of charities and volunteer groups


  • Take practical action to relieve a problem

  Provide care, people, or services

  Run not-for-profit shops and cafes

  Campaign and fundraise around a particular issue
• Examples of charities and volunteer groups


  • RSPCA

  RNLI

  Mind (mental health)

  Save the Children

  Christian Aid
• Examples of citizens working together to resolve issues


  • Extinction Rebellion (raise awareness through protest and civil disobedience)

  RSPCA (take practical action to identify, rescue, and rehome animals)

  Royal British Legion (fundraise for military veterans)

  Stonewall (campaign for LGBTQ+ rights)
• Ways the media can be used to bring about change


  • Social media campaigns, events, and memes

  Traditional radio or TV reaching larger and generally older audience

  Newspapers and magazines reaching wide and targeted audience

  Traditional press releases and events generating headlines and potential controversy
• Ways citizens can be involved in the legal system


  • Juror (decide innocence or guilt of defendants)

  Witness (give evidence or testimony in civil or criminal cases)

  Victim (report crime to police and give evidence)

  Magistrate (decide guilt in minor cases, carry out routine legal processes)

  Special Constable (assist regular police as backup)

  Police and Crime Commissioner (set local police priorities)
• Types of research sources


  • Primary textual (e.g. politician's speech)

  Secondary textual (e.g. post-election articles/books)

  Primary statistical (e.g. government census data)

  Secondary statistical (e.g. newspaper analysis of opinion polls)
• Characteristics of reliable sources

  • Free from bias

  Limited/no emotional or emotive language

  Factual and evidence-based

  Listed references and sources

  Clear authorship

  Clear funding
• Examples of reliable and unreliable sources


  • Reliable: BBC, census data, Office for National Statistics

  Unreliable: Wikipedia, social media, tabloid newspapers
• Hypothesis


  An idea yet to be proven or disproven by investigation or evidence
• Theory


  An explanation supported by the majority of available evidence
• Considerations when formulating a research question


  • Feasibility (can it be answered?)

  Reasonableness (is the research possible?)

  Bias (is it an inherently biased question?)

  Novelty (has this research been done before?)

  Relevance (is there a purpose to the research?)
• Examples of good and bad research questions


  • Good: Did turnout increase/decrease 1970-2019?

  Did Theresa May focus on Brexit in speeches?

  Link between weather and turnout in 20th century elections?

  To what extent did John Major refer to crime and punishment?

  Bad: Did household income influence 1920s voting?

  Did Corbyn's anti-Semitism lose him 2019 election?

  How does Boris Johnson react to Italian slang?
• Useful points to consider when evaluating research


  • Did you prove/disprove your hypothesis?

  Could the research be repeated?

  Could the sample size be larger without issues?

  Could you draw conclusions from the research?

  What further research can be done?
• Democracy


  Government by the people (demos = people)
• Core principles of democracy


  • Human, individual, and civil rights

  Responsibilities

  Rule of law

  Equality
• Powers of governments and cabinets


  • Make policy decisions and set general direction

  Write, propose, and attempt to pass legislation

  Handle relations with other countries

  Represent the UK on the world stage

  Run individual government departments

  Handle events and crises
• Additional powers of the Prime Minister


  • Appoint cabinet and government ministers

  Set policy and legislation direction

  Set overall direction and policy for government

  Set the tone of government

  Negotiate and confer with other leaders

  Lead their political party

  Respond to crises and events

  Grant honors and pardons
• Roles of Parliament


  • MPs vote on passing legislation

  MPs amend and update legislation

  MPs represent their constituencies

  MPs hold the government to account
• The Civil Service is much overlooked but also plays an important role
• Roles of Parliament


  • Handle relations between the UK and other countries
  • Represent the UK on the world stage
  • Run individual government departments
  • Handle events and crises
• Prime Minister's additional powers


  • Appoint cabinet and government ministers
  • Set policy and legislation direction for the government
  • Set overall direction and policy for the government
  • Set the tone of what the government is doing
  • Negotiate and confer with other leaders
  • Lead their particular political party
  • Respond to crises and events
  • Grant honors and pardons
• Roles of Parliament


  • MPs vote on the passing of legislation
  • Amend and update legislation
  • Look at legislation more thoroughly in select committees
  • Represent their constituencies
  • Hold the government to account
• Roles of the Civil Service


  • Carry out routine administration in day to day matters
  • Enact the decisions and policies made by ministers
  • Advise ministers based on their long experience
• Roles of the Monarch


  • Figurehead for the country
  • Meet weekly with the Prime Minister
  • Act as an experienced advisor
• Roles of the Judiciary


  • Interpret the laws passed by Parliament
  • Decide on liability in civil cases and sentencing in criminal cases
  • Interpret complex legal issues
  • Set precedent by their decisions
• The UK has an uncodified or unwritten Constitution
• Sources of the UK Constitution


  • Relationships between different institutions
  • Existing law (precedent)
  • Legislation passed by Parliament
  • Tradition and history (common law)
• Roles of Local Government


  • Elected in local elections
  • Deal with smaller issues in a specific local area (e.g. waste collection, roads, parking, social housing)
  • Funded from central government grants and Council Tax
• Roles of Devolved Governments


  • Rule over a constituent nation of the UK (e.g. Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly, Welsh Assembly)
  • Elected by individuals in those nations
  • Powers over most matters in that area (e.g. education, healthcare, crime and punishment)
  • Some issues reserved for the Westminster government (e.g. foreign affairs, defense)
• Requirements to stand for election in the UK


  • Over 18 years of age
  • British, Irish, or Commonwealth citizen
  • Nominated by a party or independent candidate
  • Not in a disqualifying profession (e.g. judge, police officer, Bishop)
  • Not otherwise disqualified (e.g. bankruptcy, criminal record)
• How candidates are selected to be an MP


  1. Only one candidate per party can stand in each constituency

  2. Larger parties carry out interviews to select candidates

  3. Existing MPs traditionally get to stand for their party by default

  4. Candidate receiving most votes in each constituency becomes that constituency's MP

  5. Those receiving under 5% of the vote lose their 500 pound deposit