Politics and participation

• Democracy


  A type of government based upon the principle that all people are equal and collectively hold power and those elected are accountable to the people
• Demos


  Greek word meaning 'people'
• Kratos


  Greek word meaning 'strength/power'
• Modern aspects of democracy

  • Regular, fair and open elections to public bodies
  • An electoral system with a secret ballot, which allows all voters to participate
  • The media can freely report upon the work of government
  • An accountable results system, where the result reflects the views of the electorate
  • A system where all candidates can campaign equally and no person can get elected through finance, bribes or intimidation
  • A government that is accountable, and faces regular elections
  • A system where citizens can stand for elections
  • The judiciary is separate from government and citizens can use legal processes to hold the government to account
• Liberal democracy


  A system of democracy through which certain freedoms of the individual are upheld and citizens are protected from excessive government power
• Direct democracy


  A system of government where all citizens take part in decision-making
• Representative democracy


  A system of government where citizens are elected to represent others in an assembly
• There are other systems of government that exist which are not democratic, such as dictatorship, the one-party system, absolute monarchy and theocracy
• Issues relating to democracy in the UK today


  • Different voting systems are used in different UK elections, producing different results
  • Voter turnout is often low, especially for local elections
  • The voting age is currently 18, but is 16 for some elections in Scotland
  • The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 set a fixed term for future parliaments in the UK, but was abolished in 2022
  • The UK has no formal written constitution, so Parliament can act as it pleases
  • The Supreme Court and judiciary have some powers to control decisions made by politicians and parliament
  • The European Court of Human Rights wanted the UK Parliament to consider giving people in prison the right to vote
  • Some countries and bodies seek to disrupt UK society through disinformation, misinformation and cyber warfare
  • There has been extensive devolution of power to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as to directly elected mayors
  • The UK has one of the largest unelected parliamentary bodies in the world, the House of Lords
• Sir Winston Churchill, 1947: 'Democracy is the worst form of government except all the other forms which have been tried from time to time'
• Values underpinning democracy


  • Rights
  • Responsibilities
  • Freedoms
• Rights


  Legal, social and ethical entitlements that are considered the building blocks of a society, enjoyed equally by all citizens
• Responsibilities


  Duties placed upon citizens by a society, often enshrined in law
• Freedoms


  Powers or rights to speak, act or think as one wants
• Examples of equality legislation in the UK


  • Rights of women
  • Racial equality
  • Rights of the child
  • Sexual rights
  • Disability rights
• The Equality Act of 2010 brought together 116 separate pieces of legislation into one piece of legislation
• Elements of the British constitution


  • The power of government
  • The prime minister and cabinet
  • The sovereignty of parliament
  • The roles of the legislature
• The Equality Act of 2010 brought together 116 separate pieces of legislation into one piece of legislation - many of those listed in the box
• Where does political power reside and how is it controlled?

  The principles and rules by which a country is governed
• Elements of the British constitution


  • The power of government
  • The prime minister and cabinet
  • The sovereignty of parliament
  • The roles of the legislature
  • The opposition
  • Political parties
  • The monarch
  • Citizens
  • The judiciary
  • The police
  • The civil service
• The UK constitution


  • Unwritten
  • Uncodified
• Unwritten constitution


  Makes changing aspects of constitutional law easy, as it is no different than any other type of law
• Uncodified constitution


  Enables changes to be made piecemeal that could when taken together, undermine existing constitutional rights
• How the nature of the constitution has allowed change


  • Judiciary - the Supreme Court made a ruling that the government could not close down parliament to hold an election
  • Devolution - increased the variation in laws and powers of decision-making within the UK
  • Citizens - the use of referendums has increased the power of citizens to determine policy, for example, the EU membership referendum in 2016