1. Democracy and participation

Question 1

What are the two main democratic systems?

Answer 1

Direct democracy and representative democracy

Question 2

What is direct democracy?

Answer 2

When all individuals express their opinions themselves e.g. a referendum

Question 3

What is representative democracy?

Answer 3

When an individual selects a person (or political party) to act on their behalf to exercise political choice

Question 4

What are the main features of representative democracy?

Answer 4

• Citizens elect representatives to take decisions on their behalf
• All adult citizens have the right to vote for representatives
• Citizens delegate their authority to their representatives
• Elections for representatives are free and fair

Question 5

What are the main features of direct democracy?

Answer 5

• Individuals express opinions themselves
• Citizens are more active in decision-making
• Not elective

Question 6

What are the advantages of direct democracy?

Answer 6

• Gives equal weight to all votes
• Encourages popular participation
• Removes the need for trusted representatives (people can take responsibility for their own decisions)
• Develops a sense of community and encourages genuine debate

Question 7

What are the disadvantages of direct democracy?

Answer 7

• Impractical in a large, heavily populated modern state where decision-making is complicated
• Many people will not want to take part in decision-making, so political activists decide what happens
• Open to manipulation by the cleverest and most articulate speakers, who will persuade people to support their viewpoint
• Will of the majority is not mediated by parliamentary institutions, so minority viewpoints are disregarded

Question 8

What are the advantages of representative democracy?

Answer 8

• The only practical system in a large modern state, where issues are complex and often need rapid response (e.g. deployment of troops)
• Politicians form parties, bringing coherence and giving people a real choice of representative. E.g. Pressure groups
• Reduces chances of majority rights being overridden by ‘tyranny of the majority’
• Elections allow people to hold representatives to account
• Politicians are better informed than the average citizen about the many issues on which they must take a view

Question 9

What are the disadvantages of representative democracy?

Answer 9

• May lead to reduce participation as people choose to hand responsibility to politicians
• Parties and pressure groups are often run by elites pursuing their own agendas, not truly representing the people
• Minorities may still find themselves underrepresented as politicians are more likely to follow the views of the majority to secure election
• Politicians may be corrupt and incompetent, may betray election promises or put loyalty to their party before responsibility to the electorate

Question 10

What is pluralist democracy?

Answer 10

When a government makes decisions as a result of the interplay of various ideas and contrasting arguments from competing groups and organisations

Question 11

What are two examples in which direct democracy has been used within a representative system?

Answer 11

• National referendums - The UK has had only three nationwide referendums: on Britain’s membership of the EU in 1975 and 2016; and on whether to change the system of voting for the Westminster Parliament in 2011
• The 2015 Recall of MPs Act - This allows a petition to be triggered if an MP is sentenced to be imprisoned or is suspended from the HofCs for more than 21 days. If 10% of eligible voters in the constituency sign the petition, a by-election is called. Direct democracy is thus used to hold representatives to account

Question 12

What is a referendum?

Answer 12

A direct vote on a single issue, usually requiring a response to a straight yes/no question

Question 13

What are the positive democratic features of the UK political system?

Answer 13

• Free media - that challenges government policy and exposes the misdeeds of politicians
• Independent judiciary - that upholds the rule of law and protects a wide range of personal freedoms
• Devolved governments - For Scotland, Wales and NI, and elected mayors for London and other English cities, enabling more decisions to be taken closer to local people
• Free and fair elections - largely free of corruption and intimidation, in recent years supplemented by opportunities to vote in referendums
• Wide range of political parties and pressure groups - to which people may belong

Question 14

Arguments for the UK political system suggesting it’s undemocratic particular areas?

Answer 14

• Underrepresentation of minority viewpoints due to the voting system - The House of Commons is elected by the ‘first-past-the-post’ system, which produces a mismatch between the votes cast for UK political parties and the seats that each party wins in Parliament
• HofLs lacks democratic legitimacy - The UK is unusual in having one of the two chambers of its Parliament, the House of Lords, wholly unelected
• Lack of protection for citizens’ rights - The European Convention on Human Rights, incorporated into UK law in 1998, arguably provides inadequate guarantees for the rights of citizens in their relationship with the state. Governments can suspend articles of the Human Rights Act in certain situations
• Control of sections of the media by wealthy, unaccountable business interests - E.g. the powerful Murdoch group has owned a number of British newspapers simultaneously, including The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun

Question 15

What is legitimacy?

Answer 15

The legal right to exercise power e.g. a governments right to rule following an election

Question 16

What is a democratic deficit?

Answer 16

A perceived deficiency in the way a particular democratic body works, especially in terms of accountability and control over policy-making

Question 17

What is participation crisis?

Answer 17

A lack of engagement with the political system, for example where a large number of people choose not to vote, join a political party or stand for office

Question 18

What are two ways participation rates can be measured?

Answer 18

• Voter turnout
• Party membership

Question 19

What’s a widely held belief on how the UK’s democratic system suffers?

Answer 19

• That there’s a participation crisis
• It suffers due to a lack of engagement with the political system among a significant section of the population

Question 20

How is voter turnout an important factor in measuring participation?

Answer 20

• Falling turnout is important as it means that governments are elected on a reduced share of the popular vote, thus calling the strength of their mandate into question
• The average turnout at general elections from 1945 to 1997 was 76% but since then it has been lower. There has been a modest recovery at the last two general elections, although it is still some way from the levels seen at most post-war contests

Question 21

What is the significance of party membership being another indicator of a participation crisis?

Answer 21

Shows that only 1.6% of the electorate now belongs to one of the three main UK-wide political parties, whereas in 1983 it was 3.8%

Question 22

How does party membership differ from party to party?

Answer 22

• The Conservative Party had just under 150,000 members by 2016, a significant drop from an estimated 400,000 in the mid 1990s
• The Labour Party’s membership increased in the run-up to the 1997 election but fell while the party was in government to around 190,000 members. The election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader has been associated with a remarkable increase in membership, with a total of 515,000 by July 2016
• The Liberal Democrat’s had about 70,000 members in the early 2000s, falling to 49,000 during the 2010-15 coalition with the Conservatives. In 2016, they had recovered to about 76,000 members

Question 23

What are the different ways of participation?

Answer 23

• Social media - Enabled people to exchange political views and participate in online campaigns on particular issues, without engaging in the real world (e-democracy) e.g. support for e-petitions, which allow people to register a viewpoint online
• Referendums - Voting on laws/amendments proposed. Offers the public the greater decision making power to giving the ultimate decision
• Opinion polls
• Consultation Surveys - Surveys on policy proposals or positions that have been put forward by legislators, government officials, or other policy leaders

Question 24

What are reasons why there might be a lack of democratic participation in the UK?

Answer 24

• Political apathy - A lack of interest or awareness of contemporary events and political issues that affect society
• Hapathy - a blend of the words happiness and apathy meaning people are generally contented and see no need to push for political change

Question 25

What is democratic participation?

Answer 25

• Opportunities for, and tendencies of, the people to become involved in the political process
• At a minimum level this will involve voting, but may also involve active work in political parties and pressure groups
• At the highest level it implies standing for public office

Question 26

What have been recent reform proposals/suggestions focused on increasing turnout at elections?

Answer 26

• Changing the day for elections from Thursday to the weekend, as in mainland Europe
• Allowing people to vote anywhere in their constituency, rather than insisting on attendance at a particular polling station
• Allowing voting to take place over several days
• Encourage wider use of postal voting
• Allow electronic voting (‘e-voting’)
• Lowering voting age from 18-16
• Make voting compulsory (radical proposal)

Question 27

What are some possible problems with making reform proposals on voting turnouts?

Answer 27

• Could result in an increase in electoral fraud, including multiple voting and intimidation e.g. 2004 European Parliament elections
• Voters dislike being deprived of other means of voting
• E-voting is open to problems arising from cyber attack and the possibility of online impersonation of voters
• The need to access technology may also discriminate against older people, who are less familiar with it, and poorer voters who can’t afford computers

Question 28

What are the arguments ‘FOR’ compulsory voting?

Answer 28

• Voting is a social duty as well as a right; people should be engaged in the processes that affect their lives
• It would produce a Parliament that is more representative of the population as a whole
• Politicians would have to run better quality campaigns, and governments would have to frame their policies with the whole electorate in mind

Question 29

What are the arguments ‘against’ compulsory voting?

Answer 29

• In a preferential voting system, where voters number candidates in order, compulsory voting might lead to participants simply placing candidates in rank order (1,2,3 or 3,2,1)
• It is undemocratic to force people to take part in something that should be a matter of choice
• It would not stop politicians focusing their campaigning on marginal seats, and neglecting safe seats where the outcome is predictable
• Compulsory voting does not address the deeper reasons why people decide not to vote

Question 30

What are some broader reforms of the UK democratic system that could be considered?

Answer 30

• Changing the electoral system for Westminster to one based on proportional representation, so that it more accurately reflects voters’ preferences. People who wish to vote for a minority party might feel that there is more chance of their viewpoint being represented
• Further reform of Parliament, to make its processes more democratic and transparent, and enabling it to bring governments more effectively to account for their actions
• The transfer of more government powers and functions to local bodies - for example, devolving power to the English regions or to an English parliament
• (There is little willingness to undertake reform on this scale)

Question 31

What is the suffrage/franchise?

Answer 31

The ability, or right, to vote in public elections

Question 32

What are the categories of people who are excluded from taking part in parliamentary elections?

Answer 32

• Under 18s
• EU citizens although they can vote in local elections
• Members of the House of Lords
• Prisoners
• Those convicted of a corrupt or illegal electoral practice, who are barred for 5 years
• People who are compulsory detained in a psychiatric hospital

Question 33

What were the key milestones in the widening of people being given the ability to vote in public elections (franchise)?

Answer 33

• There are two types of constituency: the countries and the boroughs (or towns), which varied considerably in size. In the counties, the right to vote was restricted to those who owned freehold property worth at least 40 shillings, or £2 in value. Voting qualifications in boroughs varied according to a range of local rules and traditions. In some boroughs all freemen were entitled to vote, whereas in others it depended on property ownership or the payment of some kind of local tax
• The distribution of parliamentary seats had not kept pace with economic growth and population movement, so some tiny boroughs retained an historic right to return MPs. In many cases a wealthy patron effectively nominated the MP. Meanwhile, emerging industrial towns were yet to acquire representation of their own
• Plural voting allowed wealthy men, who owned property in more than one constituency, to vote more than once
• By custom, women were excluded from voting, although there had been occasional examples of women who owned property in their own right exercising the franchise

Question 34

What was the significance behind The Great Reform Act of 1832?

Answer 34

• Brought about the first major change by:
• Abolishing the separate representation of the most underpopulated ‘rotten boroughs’ and creating seats for urban areas, such as Manchester
• Granting the vote to some new categories of people in the countries, including tenant farmers and smaller property holders
• Creating a standard qualification for the franchise in the boroughs
• The electorate increased to an estimated 650,000 equivalent to 5% of the adult population
• The vote was extended further in a series of stages. They were persuaded that the cautious admission of more people to the franchise was the best way to avert such an upheaval

Question 35

How did the electoral system developed after the Great Reform Act of 1832 in 1928?

Answer 35

Terms for men and women equalised; both sexes can vote at 21

Question 36

How did the electoral system developed after the Great Reform Act of 1832 in 1918?

Answer 36

All men over 21 and women over 30 enfranchised (75% of adult population can vote)

Question 37

How did the electoral system developed after the Great Reform Act of 1832 in 1969?

Answer 37

Voting age reduced to 18 (reflecting changing attitudes in society about adulthood)

Question 38

How did the suffragists help extend the ability to vote in public elections (franchise)?

Answer 38

• Mainly middle-class women who believed in non-violent methods of persuasion, such as peaceful demonstrations, petitions and lobbying MPs.
• There was evidence that the climate of opinion was changing by the turn of the century, but for more radical campaigners progress was too slow

Question 39

How did the suffragettes help extend the ability to vote in public elections (franchise)?

Answer 39

• The WSPU (Woman’s Social and Political Union) attracted both woe Kim’s and middle-class support and used more militant tactics than the NUWSS (National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies
• Its aim was to attract publicity and put pressure on Parliament through attacks on well-known institutions and the disruption of political meetings and other prominent male-dominated public activities e.g. 1913 suffragette Emily Davison threw herself under the King’s horse at the Epsom derby
• They attracted hostility but also a degree of sympathy for their strength and endurance
• Suffragettes who were imprisoned for their activities went on hunger strike and authorities had to resort to force-feeding. This have the movement valuable publicity and depicted the Liberal government of the day as unreasonably harsh

Question 40

Why is the effectiveness of the two female suffrage movements remained controversial?

Answer 40

• Some historians have argued that the quiet, undramatic work of the suffragists has not been given its due, and that the violent methods of the suffragettes alienated potential supporters
• Another line is that the willingness of women to serve in vital industries during the war, filling the gaps left by men on military service, persuaded the government of their fitness for the vote
• However, the vast majority of female war workers were younger, unmarried women, who did not benefit directly from the 1918 legislation

Question 41

Why was the suffragette movement important?

Answer 41

• It kept the issue of voting rights on the agenda in the decade before the First World War
• Politicians of all parties may have concluded in 1918 that, if they did not grant the vote to some women, the campaign would restart in a political environment much more favourable to the idea of equality

Question 42

What is a more prominent movement in the UK currently trying to extend the franchise?

Answer 42

• The Votes at 16 Coalition, formed in 2003, won an early success by securing a study of the issue by the Electoral Commission
• Although the report came down on the side of no change, a number of individual Libdem, Labour and SNP MPs kept the issue alive in the House of Commons
• An important boost for the campaign came when 16 and 17 year olds were allowed to vote in the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, and the Scottish Parliament voted the following year to allow them to take part in its own elections. At UK level, by the time of the 2015 general election, all major parties except the Conservatives were in favour of extending the precedent
• The Electoral Reform Society also supports votes at 16

Question 43

Why are pressure groups created?

Answer 43

• Seek to influence the government to adopt their ideas, or not to pursue a policy of which they disapprove
• Often created for a specific purpose e.g. campaigning against a new road, to well-established national

Question 44

What are the three main types of pressure groups?

Answer 44

• Sectional groups (or interest groups)
• Cause groups (or promotional groups)
• Social movements

Question 45

What do Sectional groups (or interest groups) do?

Answer 45

• Seek to promote the interests of an occupation or another group in society. E.g. trade unions represent their members in negotiations with employers over wages and working conditions.
• Membership of a sectional group is usually restricted to people who meet specific requirements, such as professional qualifications in a particular field e.g. the Law Society is open to solicitors in England and Wales

Question 46

What do Cause groups (or promotional groups) do?

Answer 46

• Focused on achieving a particular goal or drawing attention to an issue or group of related issues
• Membership is usually open to anyone who sympathises with their aims. E.g. Greenpeace promotes awareness of environmental concerns and tries to influence the government to adopt ‘green’ causes
• A special category of cause group is one that promotes the interests of a group in society - usually one that cannot stand up for itself
• Members do not belong to the social group of which they campaign. E.g. most members of the housing charity Shelter are not themselves homeless

Question 47

What do social movements do?

Answer 47

• Loosely structured
• They are usually politically radical and seek to achieve a single objective e.g. the ‘Camps for Climate Action’ were created for short periods in 2007-10 to protest against the expansion of Heathrow airport, coal-fired power stations in Yorkshire and other environmental targets

Question 48

What are the two different groups of pressure groups when looking at their nature of relationship with government?

Answer 48

• Insider groups
• Outsider groups

Question 49

What’re insider groups?

Answer 49

• Rely on contacts with ministers and civil servants to get their way
• Some have close links with the relevant government department (DEFRA)
• Insider groups tend to have objectives that are broadly in line with the views of the government, increasing their leverage
• Insider groups are sub-divided into low and high-profile groups
• Low-profile groups, such as the Howard League for prison reform, rely on discreet behind the scenes contacts rather than seeking publicity
• High-profile groups such as the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), supplement their lobbying with use of the media to make their case

Question 50

What’re outsider groups?

Answer 50

• Not consulted by the government
• Their objectives may be so far outside the political mainstream that the government is unlikely to enter into dialogue with them
• Alternatively, an outsider group may wish to preserve its independence and reputation for ideological purity by keeping government at a distance
• E.g. the ‘Occupy’ movement, which organised sit-ins in late 2011, sees government as closely aligned to the global capitalist movement against which they are protesting

Question 51

How do different pressure groups’ methods they use vary?

Answer 51

• A groups choice of method will be determined largely by the resources available and by its status as an insider or outsider group
• Pressure groups may also lobby MPs, briefing them on issues of concern or giving evidence to committees
• Lawyers acting for human rights group, Liberty, have done this in order to put their views across on counter-terrorism policies that affect people’s civil liberties
• Direct action is not always peaceful. Some of those who took part in the 210 student demonstrations against increased university tuition fees were prosecuted for disorderly conduct
• Pressure groups that are usually well funded may initiate legal challenges against policies to which they are opposed. The Countryside Alliance took its case against the banning of fox hunting (in vain) to the High Court in 2004
• Some groups may use a combination of ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ methods depending on the nature of the issue and the degree to which the government is willing to respond

Question 52

What methods do insider pressure groups tend to use?

Answer 52

• Insider groups tend to negotiate quietly behind the scenes, using their private contacts in Whitehall
• Could be given the opportunity to offer their views on draft legislation
• E.g. Organisations like the National Farmers Union are able to offer the government the benefit of their specialised knowledge in return for influence over policy

Question 53

What methods do outsider pressure groups tend to use?

Answer 53

• Outsider groups typically resort to less discreet methods to draw attention to their concerns. Lacking contacts within government, they may try to exercise influence through email campaigns and petitions, or staging demonstrations and publicity stunts
• Members of the pressure group BLM UK e.g. obstructed flights at London City Airport in September 2016 to draw attention to their claim that ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by pollution

Question 54

How do different pressure groups measure their success?

Answer 54

• May consist of winning publicity for an issue rather than actually changing government policy
• Hard to gauge the success of insider groups, as they do not usually publicise their achievement to avoid offending their government contacts
• Access to effective methods of communication is another that may promote success e.g. the events that occurred after the rise of petrol prices in September 2000

Question 55

What are the factors relevant in deciding the effectiveness of pressure group activity?

Answer 55

• Resources
• Tactics and leadership
• Public support
• Government attitudes

Question 56

How are ‘resources’ a relevant factor in deciding the effectiveness of pressure group activity?

Answer 56

• A large membership who pay subscriptions means that a group is likely to have the financial resources to run offices, pay permanent staff and organise publicity
• The size of a pressure groups membership can also be important in persuading government that it reflects a significant section of public opinion (not always the case)
• E.g. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament had an estimated 110,000 members in the mid-1980s but the Thatcher government could afford to ignore its large and well-orchestrated demonstrations, because it could rely on the passive support of the majority of the population

Question 57

How are ‘Tactics and leadership’ a relevant factor in deciding the effectiveness of pressure group activity?

Answer 57

• Experienced, capable leadership is vital to success
• E.g. RSPCA played a key role in securing the ban on hunting with dogs in 2004 by collaborating with two similar groups so that they were not competing with each other
• Another key to success is knowing which ‘access points’ in the UK political system to target - the points at which a group can apply pressure

Question 58

How are ‘Public support’ a relevant factor in deciding the effectiveness of pressure group activity?

Answer 58

• Groups whose agenda is in step with public opinion are usually more successful than those whose objectives fall to engage it, or whose methods alienate potential sympathisers
• E.g. The Snowdrop campaign to ban the use of handguns was successful largely because of public reaction to the 1996 Dunblane primary school massacre
• Favourable media courage can play an important role in winning support, as can the involvement of a well-known personality

Question 59

How are ‘Government attitudes’ a relevant factor in deciding the effectiveness of pressure group activity?

Answer 59

• Insider contracts with government ministers and civil servants are often a key to success
• E.g. The National Farmers Union’s links to DEFRA were instrumental in bringing about the 2013 badger cull
• Government will usually listen to the groups on which it relies for specialist knowledge of a policy area, and with whose agenda it can see some common ground

Question 60

What is the BMA?

Answer 60

• A sectional group whose main purpose is to protect the interests of doctors
• It had a professional status and ability to provide scientific evidence which gave them credibility with government

Question 61

What are examples of the BMA’s methods and influences?

Answer 61

• When campaigning for the ban on smoking in cars outright it was unsuccessful so changed their concentration on campaigning for prohibition when children were being carried and attracted support from other pressure groups to join the cause e.g. Asthma UK
• Used online technology to lobby for support, providing its members with a web-based form to personalise and send to their MPs, also made its case to members of the HofLs

Question 62

What was the Occupy London movement? And what were the groups methods in trying to achieve their goal?

Answer 62

• In 2011, A group of protesters were protesting about corporate greed in the City of London, which they held responsible for social inequality
• They erected tents in the square in front of St Paul’s Cathedral until they were evicted by order of the High Court 4 months later
• Their demonstrations were echoed by demonstrations in other countries/cities e.g. New York
• They had some success in drawing attention to their cause at the time when there was spending cuts, however, Occupy London failed to achieve long-lasting results due to the strong stand taken by the authorities
• The movement’s objectives were too broad and incoherent to give them any chance of success
• They represented a generalised hostility to global capitalism and did not have practical, achievable goals

Question 63

What are other organisations/groups that seek to exercise influence in various ways within the UK political system?

Answer 63

• Think tanks
• Lobbyists
• Corporations

Question 64

What is a think tank?

Answer 64

• A body of experts brought together to investigate and offer solutions to economic, social or political issues
• E.g. the shift of Conservative Party thinking towards a more overtly fee-market-orientated approach in the 1970s owed a great deal to Margaret Thatcher’s patronage of right-wing think tanks, such as the Centre for Policy Studies and the Adam Smith Institute

Question 65

What is a lobbyist?

Answer 65

Someone who is paid by clients to seek to influence government or Parliament on their behalf, particularly when legislation is being considered

Question 66

What are the factors of think tanks?

Answer 66

• They are an alternative source of ideas for the civil service, with more time and expertise than political parties to carry out research
• Some have a definite influence on government policy
• E.g. the Centre for Social Justice was set up by former Conservative Party leader, Iain Duncan Smith, in 2004 to look for new solutions to the problems of people living in disadvantaged communities
• However, in government it is necessary to make compromises, so the less politically practical ideas dreamed up by think tanks are often ignored
• The work of think tanks is often said to lack the academic rigour expected in university circles
• They are staffed by young, ambitious individuals who see their time there as a springboard to a political career

Question 67

What are the factors of lobbyists?

Answer 67

• Their purpose is to gain influence on behalf of their clients, particularly when legislation that affects their clients interests is under consideration
• The word ‘lobby’ is derived from the hallways of the Houses of Parliament where, in the past, people would meet their MP to ask for help

Question 68

What are the problems/concerns surrounding lobbyists?

Answer 68

• There’s unease about the legitimacy of some professional lobbying activities and many people dislike the idea that influence can be bought by wealthy individuals and organisations, who can afford the lobbyists’ fees
• Attention has been focused on the system recently by undercover journalists posing as lobbyists to entrap MPs with offers of financial rewards. The parliament code of conduct strictly bars MPs from accepting money for agreeing to represent a viewpoint
• Another concern has been that the lobbying system was expected to regulate itself overtime, with lobbyists being allowed to decide whether or not their names appeared on a public register
• In 2014 the government made it a legal requirement for anyone lobbying on behalf of a third party to register if their activities include discussing policy, legislation or government contracts with a minister or senior civil servant. This did not allay the anxieties of critics who wanted greater transparency

Question 69

What is the overall viewpoint on lobbyists and their influence on government?

Answer 69

• Lobbying remains big business in the UK, employing an estimated 4000 people, and a total of £2 billion is spent on it each year
• How much influence lobbying really has over government is uncertain
• Under David Cameron, Number 10 denied that lobbying firms changed government policy, but stated that companies frequently discuss their concerns with the Business Department or the Treasury

Question 70

How does ‘corporations’ seek to exercise influence within the UK political system?

Answer 70

• The role of corporations, or large business organisations, in UK government circles is a related area of concern for some pro-democracy campaigners
• There’s also been discussion of the so-called ‘revolving door’ process, where senior politicians and officials take well-paid jobs in the private sector after they leave government service
• This brings with it the suspicion that they use their knowledge and contacts to benefit the interests of these corporations
• In addition a number of business leaders have become minister by being appointed to the HoLs

Question 71

What was there in the UK before 1998 on peoples rights?

Answer 71

• There was no single document that positively set out citizens’ rights
• Instead they were ‘negative rights’ - things people were entitled to do unless the law explicitly prohibited them
• E.g. people had a right tp freedom of expression, subject to laws of defamation and blasphemy
• Some rights were protected by acts of Parliament, while others derived from custom or common law

Question 72

What were the major milestones in the development of rights in the UK?

Answer 72

• Magna Carta (1215)
• The European Convention on Human Rights (1950)
• The Human Rights Act (1998)
• The Equality Act (2010)

Question 73

How was the Magna Carta (‘Great Charter’) a major milestone in the development of rights in the UK?

Answer 73

• A document drawn up in 1215 and is usually regarded as the oldest statement of rights in the UK
• Was presented to King John by nobles who disapproved of his tyrannical rule, and its original purpose was to limit royal power
• Many of its clauses are now outdated

Question 74

Under the Magna Carta (1215) what excerpt/clause has been widely hailed as the foundation of the rights of the citizen?

Answer 74

• No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled; nor will we proceed with force against him except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice
• This clause is regarded as establishing the right to trial by jury and to habeas corpus. This means literally ‘you may have the body’ in Latin: this refers to a court order to produce a person before court so that it can be determined whether he or she has been lawfully detained

Question 75

How was the ‘The European Convention on Human Rights’ a major milestone in the development of rights in the UK?

Answer 75

• Drawn up in 1950 with the UK as one of its signatories by the Council of Europe
• It was very similar to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, drawn up in the aftermath of terrible violations of rights in the Second World War
• The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg to hear cases where people felt that their rights has been infringed in their own countries. UK citizens were allowed to appeal to the Court, but it was time-consuming and expensive

Question 76

How was the ‘Human Rights Act (1998)’ a major milestone in the development of rights in the UK?

Answer 76

• In 1998 the new Labour government passed the act which incorporated the convention into UK law with effect from 2000
• Example of these rights were: the right to life, the prohibition of torture or degrading treatment, freedom from arbitrary arrest, the right to a fair trial and rights to privacy and family life
• These rights could now be defended in UK courts without having to go to Strasbourg

Question 77

How was the ‘Equality Act (2010)’ a major milestone in the development of rights in the UK?

Answer 77

• Brought together earlier pieces of legislation that had sough to outlaw discrimination and unfair treatment, such as the 1970 Equal Pay Act, the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act and the 1976 Race Relations Act
• It identified nine ‘protected characteristics’
• It made it illegal for public bodies, employers, service provides and other organisations and individuals to discriminate against people on any of these grounds, in the workplace or in wider society

Question 78

What are the nine ‘protected characteristics’ that the Equality Act (2010) identified?

Answer 78

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage or civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
• Religion or belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation

Question 79

Since the Human Rights Act has been passed what has often been claimed about the UK?

Answer 79

• It has developed a ‘rights-based culture’ - Empowering people to know and claim their rights and increasing the ability and accountability of individuals and institutions who are responsible for respecting, protecting and fulfilling rights

Question 80

Due to the Human Rights act, how does old and new legislation work?

Answer 80

• All new legislation must be compliant with the act
• Judges can declare earlier acts of Parliament incompatible with it, although they can’t legally compel Parliament to make changes
• This is because of parliamentary sovereignty

Question 81

What is an indicator of the growing prominence of rights in the UK?

Answer 81

• The increased use of judicial review
• E.g. number of reviews went from around 4240 in 2000 to 15,600 by 2013

Question 82

Since the Human Rights Act and the increases of judicial review, what has been examples of successful challenges to government policy?

Answer 82

• High Court rulings that retied Gurkha soldiers should be allowed to settle in the UK (2008)
• That the government had not consulted fairly on compensation for people affected by the planned High Speed Rail link (2013)

Question 83

What is a pro and con critics argue on the impact of judicial review?

Answer 83

• It is a vital means of defending citizens’ rights, enabling legality of government actions to be properly scrutinised
• People argue that it places too much power in the hands of unelected and unaccountable judges

Question 84

What is a prominent example of judicial review exploiting the Human Rights Act?

Answer 84

• Privacy
• Judges have been accused of creating a privacy law through the way they have interpreted the Human Rights Act
• In a series of high-profile court cases, they appeared to give priority to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to privacy) over Article 10 (the high to freedom of expression), as claimed by the press
• This occurred even through specific legislation on the subject had not been passed by Parliament, and it was not explicitly covered by common law
• It seemed that wealthy individuals, who could afford to take legal action, had an unfair advantage. E.g. 2008 Max Mosley

Question 85

What is an example of the unfair advantage wealthy individuals have relating to privacy and the ability to afford to take legal action?

Answer 85

• In 2008 the High Court awarded Max Mosley, the head of the Formula 1 motor racing organisation, substantial damages when the News of the World published a story about his sex life, which he argued had breached his privacy
• On the other hand its worth noting that Mosley failed in a subsequent action in the European Court of Human Rights, which refused to rule that newspapers should notify people before printing stories about their personal lives

Question 86

On the right, what is viewed as a very serious fault of the Human Rights Act?

Answer 86

• The way that it seems to show favour to underserving individuals, rather than protecting the legitimate freedoms of UK citizens
• The Conservatives have argued for many years for the replacement of the act with a new ‘British Bill of Rights’, which would establish the supremacy of British courts over the European Court of Human Rights
• E.g. The case of Abu Qatada illustrates the frustration caused by the way in which the Human Rights Act was implemented

Question 87

What is the most emotive area where the rights of the individual have come into conflict with the priorities of government?

Answer 87

Counter-terrorism

Question 88

How did counter-terrorism impact the UK relating to rights?

Answer 88

• The 9/11 terror attacks in the USA in 2001, and the 7/7 Underground and bus bombings in 2005 led to government measures that limited civil liberties in the interests of protecting the wider community
• Ministers argued that they were entitled to detain terror suspects without trial on the grounds that a national emergency existed
• In December 2004 the Law Lords ruled that indefinite detention of foreign nationals, on suspicion of involvement in terrorism, was discriminatory
• Faced with this legal challenge, the government passed a new law to introduce a system of control orders that enabled suspects to be closely monitored, such as through electronic tagging, a requirement to report to the police and removal of mobile phones and internet access
• Control orders were kept in place, despite adverse rulings by judges, until 2011 when the coalition government replaced them with a modified version known as Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIMs)

Question 89

What has the fears of terrorism in the UK done to human rights and a example to back it up?

Answer 89

• Restrictive measures have been abandoned in face of parliamentary and public opposition
• E.g. in November 2005, the Blair Government’s proposal to extend the period that a suspect could be held before being charged, from 14 to 90 days, was defeated in the Commons. The government then compromised on 28 days and abandoned a subsequent attempt to increase it to 42 days, following a defeat in the Lords in 2008. Under the coalition the 28 day period was halved, and the Labour governments plan for compulsory identity cards was scrapped

Question 90

Why have pro-human rights pressure groups had limited success in deflecting government policy

Answer 90

• E.g. Liberty
• The public has been remarkably willing to sacrifice some liberties at a time of heightened concern over security
• Governments have tended to place the safety of society above the protection of individual rights
• E.g. in 2013 the organisation failed to stop the introduction of so-called ‘secret courts’, which permit terrorist suspects and major criminals to be tried without the evidence against them being disclosed in full
• Nor did they arrest the passage of the intelligence agencies by obliging Internet companies to store information about customers’ browsing history