Citizenship Politics and Participation

• A democracy is a system of government where the power is vested in the people and usually exercised through elected representatives
• Parliament consists of two houses - The House of Commons (MP's) and the House of Lords (Peers)
• In the UK, the monarch is head of state but does not have any real political powers
• The Prime Minister is the leader of the party with most seats in parliament and has significant influence over policy making
• Civil servants work within departments to implement policies made by the cabinet
• Backbench MP's do not hold positions within the government or shadow cabinet
• Democracy includes regular and fair elections that reflect the views of the people, free media and campaigns and the right for anyone to stand for election
• Direct democracy involves all members of society having an equal say on issues through voting
• Participatory democracy encourages active participation from ordinary citizens in decision-making processes
• Representative democracy allows voters to elect representatives who make decisions on their behalf
• Political parties have different ideologies which influence how they approach policy making
• The 5 values that underpin democracy are Rights, Responsibilitie, Freedoms, Equality and The Rule of law, all under the Equality act 2010
• Non-democratic political systems are governments that are not elected by the people and who have all power in decision making
• To vote in the UK you must be 18 or over and a British, Irish or qualifying commonwealth citizen.
• If you want to vote in the UK, you cannot be a member of the house of Lords, be of any other citizenship, be in prison, be mentally ill or have been found guilty in the last 5 years
• The first past the post system means that the person with the most votes wins power in their constituency and the party with the most seats wins power.
• The first past the post system is simple, but not representative of all votes
• Proportional representation means that the seats shared amongst parties represents their portion of the votes
• Proportional representation gives voices to smaller political parties but often leads to weak coalition governments
• Alternative voting is when voters list the candidates from their top choice to their bottom
• Alternative government avoids coalition governments but it is quite complicated
• The closed party list system is when a voter chooses a party and then a list of candidates is chosen for them proportionally
• The closed party list system is easier for voters but can lead to corrupt MPs
• Alternative voting is also known as single transferable votes
• In parliament, MPs spend their time in the house of commons raising issues in their constituencies, joining in debates and voting on new laws
• In their constituencies, MPs discuss concerning matters with locals, attend functions and try to help as many people as possible
• The prime minister is the leader of government and is responsible for the policy and decisions of the government
• The prime minister oversees the operations of the civil service and government agencies, chooses members of the government and is the principal government figure in the house of commons
• The cabinet is a team of 20 most senior ministers in the government, chosen by the PM to lead on specific policy areas such as health, transport, foreign affairs and defence
• Ministers are MPs and lords in the government who have been chosen by the prime minister and given a specific area of government policy to oversee. They speak from front benches during debates and answer questions
• The speaker acts as a chair during debates and ensures that order is maintained. They are MPs but are politically impartial
• The commons deputy speaker takes the chair in the speakers absence
• The Lords speaker chairs daily business in the house of Lords
• The sergeant-at-arms is responsible for ceremonial occasions
• The clerk of the parliaments is responsible for meeting the house of Lords objectives
• The clerk of the house of commons is the principal advisor to the house
• Whips ensure that MPs vote accordingly to their party's wishes
• The black rod is responsible for security in the house of lords
• Front benchers are ministers, while backbenchers are ordinary MPs with no additional post
• Over 50% of the 1 trillion raised each year by the government comes from income tax, national insurance and VAT