6 - Democracy and Participation Flashcards
What democracy is the uk
Representative
What are the features of democracy
Representation
participation
Accountability
Legitimacy
Rule of Law
Elections
Smooth transition of power
Civil rights
Education
Key info on Direct Democracy
People vote Yes or No on a certain topic
No country has a fully direct democracy as it would be too difficult
Switzerland has the most direct democracy
The UK uses referendums a lot
Advantages of direct democracy
People can directly participate
The wishes of people cannot be ignored
People can be politically motivated
Decisions have the authority of the people - gives legitimacy
Disadvantages of direct democracy
The public may be misinformed and make poor decisions
Tyranny of the majority - Vote for something to stop a minority group
People can vote populist/emotionally
Expensive and slow
Key info on representative government
Regular elections to elect representatives
Follow trustee or delegate model
Elected representatives become part of a legislative assembly
Most western democracy’s are a liberal democracy
What is a liberal democracy
Types of representative democracy in which the rule of law is followed
Who could vote before 1832
Only rich male land owners
Lower than 4% of the population
What did the Great reform act 1832 do
One in 5 male adults could vote
5.6% of population
What did the second reform act 1867 do
Allowed working-class men to vote if they met a property qualification
Doubled the electorate
What did the third reform act 1884 do
All working men who met a property qualification could vote
40% of the population
What did the representation of the people act 1918 do
All men over 21 could vote
women over 30 who met the property qualification could vote
What did the representation of the people act 1928 do
All men and women over 21 could vote
Property qualification removed
What did the representation of the peoples act 1969 do
Voting age lowered to 18
Why were women given the vote so late
Traditionally seen as the “Weaker” sex
No considered to have enough education
Opponents in 19th-20th century said they were to emotional
Traditionalists felt a women’s place was in the home, politics would distract her
Class suffrage key info
The rich before 1832 believed giving poor people he vote would lose them power
Fears poor people weren’t educated enough
Fears poor people would vote for socialism
Ethnic suffrage key info
Have never been ethnic barriers in voting in the uk
People of colour have been un-represented in parliament
Black and asian people were less likely to register to vote in 2019
Suffrage around age key info
Younger people were not seen as having enough political education
Women between 21-29 were denied the vote in 1918 because they were seen to be emotional
There is a campaign to bring the vote to 16-17 yr olds - They can vote for Scottish parliament, local councils and the welsh parliament
What was the turnout for 16-17 in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum
higher than the 18-24yr olds
What party’s support votes from 16
Labour
SNP
Lib Dems
Plaid Cymru
Green
Who were the chartists
Set up after the great reform act 1832
They campaigned for votes for all men under 21, no property qualifications for mp’s and yearly elections
What were the Chartists methods
They presented 3 petitions signed by millions to parliament
Significance of the chartists
All 3 petitions rejected
Authority dealt harshly with unrest provoked by the rejections
Movement lacked a single leaver and struggled to co-ordinate
Some wanted violence, which lead to middle class people leaving
today all their aims apart from yearly elections have been met
Who were the suffragists
Campaigned for the vote since 1860’s
In 1897 they formed the national union of women’s suffrage society’s NUWSS
What were the suffragist’s methods
Peaceful methods
Petitions
speeches
marches
letter writing
Significance of the suffragist’s
Women were no closer to getting the vote in 1903
NUWSS had more than 100,000 members by 1914
Who were the suffragettes
Emmeline pankhurst formed the Women’s social and political union SPU in 1903 after getting frustrated the suffragists done nothing
What were the suffragettes method’s
Militant methods
Received harsh prison sentences which they attempted to reduce via hunger strikes
Emily Davidson was killed by the kings horse in derby in 1913
Christabel pankhurst fled to hide in france to not get arrested
Campaign stopped as WW1 started
Significance of the suffragettes
the government refused to give into violence
Dealt with harshly by the police
Attracted national coverage
Criticised for using extreme measures by suffragists
Many key supporters left because of the arson protest and funding fell
Likely women were gave the vote in 1918 to stop anymore violence
What did the ECHR say about prisoner suffrage in 2005
Against their human right to refused them them all the vote
What was Hirst V UK
John Hirst was serving a sentence for man slaughter
he argued that the uk government was in breach of the HRA
This was rejected by the high court but when he brought the case to the ECHR it was successful
The UK government did not comply with the ECHR ruling
What pressure group wants the UK to obey the HCHR on the votes for prisoners
Howard league for penal support
What did the conservatives do in 2017 for prisoner right
Let around 100 prisoners vote
What did the scottish parliament do in 2020 for prisoners votes
Allowed them to vote if their sentence was 12 months or less
Arguments for there being a participation crisis
Turnout has been low in general elections - in 1950 more that 80% of people voted compared to 59% in 2001
In 2012 the PPC election had a 15% nationwide turnout, then 27% in 2016 and 33% in 2021
Arguments against there being a participation crisis
Turnout is rising in general elections with 69% in 2017 and 67%in 2019 being the second highest since 1997
Turnout in referendums have been high with 85% in scottish independence and 72% in the 2016 eu referendum
The contrast between the PCC election and the Eu referendum show people will participate if they care about the cause
Arguments for a party membership crisis
Membership has fallen since the 1950’s when the torys had over 2.5m and labour over 1m. In 2018 the tors had just 124k
Partisan dealignment
Trade unions have fewer members and have lost power since the 1980’s
Political apathy shows people between 19-24 are less politically engaged
Slacktivism is increasing
Arguments against there being a party membership crisis
Increasing over recent years with labour having over 500k and the conservatives reaching 200k in 2021
minor parties have done very well over the last decade - UKIP won the 2014 european parliament elections and received 3.9m votes in the 2015 general
Pressure group membership has increased, so no need to join a party
Internet based movements can be powerful with BLM having over 210k online supports in october 2020. This triggered a nationwide debate on how black history is taught
