1. Democracy and Participation. 1.2 Franchise and Participation Crisis Flashcards
REFORMS TO UK DEMOCRACY:
VOTES TO 16/17 YEAR OLDS
What are 3 arguments that they should be given the vote?
- Scottish referendum, research shows that 16/17 year olds have higher rates of turnout than 18-24 year olds
- matters will directly affect them
- will encourage civic mindedness/political interest
REFORMS TO UK DEMOCRACY:
VOTES TO 16 YEAR OLDS
What are 3 arguments that they should not be given the vote?
- lack of experience and too young to understand
- lower interest of 18-24 year olds have the lowest turnout, why would 16/17 be different
- would be impressionable and influence easily
REFORMS TO UK DEMOCRACY:
VOTES TO PRISONERS
What are 3 arguments to give the vote to prisoners?
- ECHR ruled that they should change the law (John Hirst took his to ECtHR in 2005 and won)
- might take more civic responsibilities
- increase turnout (73,000 eligible)
MILESTONES IN EXTENDING FRANCHISE
What are the 4 milestones?
- 1832 Great Reform Act
- 1918 Representation of the People Act
- 1928 Representation of the People Act
- 1969 Representation of the People Act
MILESTONES IN EXTENDING FRANCHISE
What 2 things did the 1832 Great Reform Act do?
- extend the franchise to around 800,000 people (1/5 males)
- redrew constituency boundaries
MILESTONES IN EXTENDING FRANCHISE
What 3 things did the 1918 Representation of the People Act do?
- made women over age of 30 eligible for first time
- (subject to minimum property qualifications)
- extending vote to men over 21
MILESTONES IN EXTENDING FRANCHISE
What 3 things did the 1928 Representation of the People Act do?
- women and men over age of 21 could vote
- eliminated the property qualifications for women
- (added 5 million more women to the electoral roll)
MILESTONES IN EXTENDING FRANCHISE
What did the 1969 Representation of the People Act do?
- 18 year old women and men could vote
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
What is the concept of ‘active citizenship’?
- Blair introduced it
- expected to become more aware, involved and vote in elections
- becoming involved in community action and promote their own issues
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
What are the 3 main indicators of declining participation?
- falling election turnouts
- declining party membership
- partisan dealignment and declining activism within parties
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Falling Election Turnouts
What is are 2 implications of falling election turnouts?
- the government does not attract attention of the people anymore
- the government has less of a political mandate
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Falling Election Turnouts
What was the general elections turnout in 1997? and in 2010 and 2017?
1997: 72%
2010: 65%
2017: 69%
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Falling Election Turnouts
What is the EU average general election turnout?
75%
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Falling Election Turnouts
Give 2 comparable statistics that demonstrate the voting apathy amongst 18-24 year olds?
2015 election:
18-24: 43%
65s+: 78%
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Falling Election Turnouts
Give the 2016 turnout for the Scottish Parliament and London Assembly
Scottish Parl: 56%
London Assembly: 46%
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Falling Election Turnouts
Which 2 other types of elections are below average in the UK?
Local Elections
rarely reach 40%
EU elections
EU average is 43%
UK average is 34%
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Declining Party Membership
What are the implications of declining party membrehsip?
- harder to find and recruit candidates
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Declining Party Membership
What proportion of the population was a member of a party in 1980 versus 2016? When was it the lowerst?
1980: 4.12%
2016: 1.6%
2010 was lowest at 0.8%
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Declining Party Membership
What is a statistic showing that Conservative membership has declined? And a statistic that argues it has increased?
decreased:
almost halved since David Cameron elected in 2005
1998: 350,000
2015: 150,000
increased:
2014 - saw a 30% increase after £1-a-year supporters
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Declining Party Membership
What is a statistic showing that Labour membership has declined? And a statistic that argues it has increased?
decreased:
lost equivalent of 27,000 members since 2010
increased:
changed after 2015
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Declining Party Membership
What are 5 effects of falling memberships?
- 1.5% of electorate are members
- UK has lowest rates of membership amongst EU democracies
- shortage of candidates
- decisions made by a narrower, distant majority
- parties rely on donations from wealthy people
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Partisan Dealignment and Reduced Activism
What is ‘partisan dealignment’?
refers to the declining bond between party and the voter
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Partisan Dealignment and Reduced Activism
What are 2 statistics to show partisan dealignment? And what does the British Social Attitudes 2009 survey say?
1964 - over 40% felt ‘very strong identification’ with political parties
2001 - less than 5%
Survey:
60% ‘almost never’ trust politicians
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Partisan Dealignment and Reduced Activism
What are the implications of partisan dealignment? What are the implications of reduced activism?
- decline in party loyalty
- more likely to shift vote
- volatile and inconsistent voting patterns
- fewer citizens are fully aware of how the voting/electoral system works
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Partisan Dealignment and Reduced Activism
What is a statistic that shows reduced activism? What did the 2012 Hansard survey say?
39% claim to be knowledgeable about politics
Hansard survey:
42% have interest in politics
CA: THERE ISN’T A PARTICIPATION CRISIS
What are 3 counter-arguments to say that there is not a participation crisis?
- more opportunities to vote
- increased membership of parties
- rise of pressure groups
CA: THERE ISN’T A PARTICIPATION CRISIS
More Opportunities to Vote
What are 4 more opportunities voters have to participate?
- EU elections
- more frequent referendums
- devolved institutions (1999)
- directly elected mayors (1999)
- Police Commisssioners (2012)
CA: THERE ISN’T A PARTICIPATION CRISIS
More Opportunities to Vote
What does the turnout of referendums and GEs state about opportunities to vote?
GEs and referendums are on a general trend of rising
since all time low of 2001
CA: THERE ISN’T A PARTICIPATION CRISIS
More Opportunities to Vote
How is the UK’s participation compared to other liberal democracies?
largely average
US is 56%
Canada is 62%
UK is 69%
CA: THERE ISN’T A PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Increased Party Membership
While it is true the main parties have suffered since the 1950s (with a few earlier exceptions such as £1 a year for Cons and gains for Lab), why can it be seen that party membership has increased?
other parties have gained popularity
CA: THERE ISN’T A PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Increased Party Membership
What other parties have gained members?
2015 - SNP doubled members to 120,000
2014 - UKIP has 42,000, up from 9000 in 2008
2014 - Scottish Greens have more than tripled their membership in 2014
CA: THERE ISN’T A PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Increased Party Membership
When and by how much did the Labour party gain members?
When:
- run up to 2015 leadership contest
- after election of Corbyn
- in wake of EU referendum
- after relatively successful GE
How much:
- July 2016 - on course to hit 600,000
- 610,000 applied to vote in Labour’s leadership contest
CA: THERE ISN’T A PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Increased Party Membership
What are the implications of increased party membership?
- demonstrate interest
- form of activism
- shows a public mandate of some sort
CA: THERE ISN’T A PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Rise of Pressure Groups
What are the implications of the rise in pressure groups?
- public is still interested
- channelled their participation to alternate forms
- participation levels have changed rather than fallen
CA: THERE ISN’T A PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Rise of Pressure Groups
Over the past 2 decades, what has there been unprecedented growth in?
- the number of pressure groups
- the number of people joing the PGS
- the intensity and scale of PG activities
- E-Democracy adn social media
CA: THERE ISN’T A PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Rise of Pressure Groups
Give 3 statistics that indicate the high levels of people joining pressure groups
RSPB Wildlife: 1million+
Friends of the Earth: 200,000
Countryside Alliance: 100,000
CA: THERE ISN’T A PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Rise of Pressure Groups
Give examples of how the intensity and scale of PGs activities has grown?
Stop the War Coalition 2003: 1-2 million marching
Direct action: student campaign against the hike in tuition fees
Extinction Rebellion
CA: THERE ISN’T A PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Rise of Pressure Groups
Give examples of where people can participate in E-Democracy
E-petitions
social networking
‘hacktivism’ (use of technology to promote a political agenda)
CA: THERE ISN’T A PARTICIPATION CRISIS
Rise of Pressure Groups
Give 2 statistics that show how widely used e-petitions are.
2016: peition calling 2nd EU referendum was signed by 4.1 million
2016: 50 petitions received more than 100,000 signatures
more than 35 debated in parl
PARTICIPATION CRISIS
What could be your conclusion for both sides of the argument?
overall participation has declined due to continuing statistics indicating this
the nature of political participation may have changed rather than decline
REFORMS TO UK DEMOCRACY:
Compulsory Voting
What are 3 arguments in favour of this?
- gov could claim greater legitimacy
- political participation is a civic duty (would have educational implications)
- the geater the level of political partiicpation, the greater the likelhihood that citizens will think/act like full citizens
REFORMS TO UK DEMOCRACY
Compulsory Voting
What are 3 arguments against?
- compulsory voting would simply mask deeper engagement issues
- could encourage non-serious voting
- it could be considered a violation of individual freedom
REFORMS TO UK DEMOCRACY
eDemocracy
What are 3 arguments in favour of this?
- citizens can express their views without having to leave home
- enlarges citizens’ access to information, making truly free exchange of ideas/views
- genuinely democratic process where citizens become active
REFORMS TO UK DEMOCRACY
eDemocracy
What are 2 arguments against this?
- the risk of hacking could undermine the legitimacy of elections
- it threatens to turn erode its importance
REFORMS TO UK DEMOCRACY
What are all 6 possible reforms to UK democracy?
- compulsory voting
- voting to 16/17 year olds
- eDemocracy
- greater use of referenda
- changes to voting system
- constitutional reform
