Component 1, Part 1- Democracy and Political Parties (Chapter 1&2) Flashcards
1) What is direct democracy?
2) What is representative democracy?
1) Direct democracy is where individuals express their individual opinions.
2) Representative democracy is where people elect representatives who take decisions on their behalf.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of direct democracy?
1) Advantages:
- Gives equal weight to all votes, unlike a representative system where different sizes of constituencies mean that votes don’t have equal value.
- Encourages popular participation in politics by expecting people to take their duties as citizens seriously.
- Removes the need for trusted representatives, as people can take responsibility for their own decisions.
- Develops a sense of community and encourages genuine debate.
2) Disadvantages:
- Impractical in a 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.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of representative democracy?
1) Advantages:
- The only practical system in a large modern state, where issues are complex and often need rapid response.
- Politicians from parties, bringing coherence and giving people a real choice of representative. Pressure groups form to represent different interests, promoting debate and encouraging pluralist democracy.
- Reduced chances of ‘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.
2) Disadvantages:
- May lead to reduced 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 are skilful in avoiding accountability, especially as general elections are 5 years apart.
- Politicians may be corrupt and incompetent, may betray election promises or put loyalty to their party before responsibility to the electoratre.
What are some of the instances where direct democracy can be used within a representative system?
1) National referendums - a direct vote on a single issue, usually requiring a yes/no answer. There have been 3 referendums in the UK. The 1st one was in 1975, and the most recent was the Brexit referendum 2016.
2) The 2015 Recall of MPs Act - allows petition to be triggered if an MP is sentenced to be imprisoned.
What are the 5 positive democratic features of the UK political system?
1) Devolved governments for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and elected mayors for London and other cities enable more decisions to be taken closer to local people.
2) Independent judiciary that upholds the rule of law and protects a wide range of personal freedoms.
3) Free media that challenges government policy and exposes the misdeeds of politicians.
4) Free and fair elections, largely free of corruption and intimidation.
5) Wide range of political parties and pressure groups.
In what ways is the UK political system undemocratic?
1) Underrepresentation of minority viewpoints due to the voting system - FPTP produces a mismatch between the votes cast for UK political parties and the seats that each party wins.
2) House of Lords lacks democratic legitimacy.
3) Lack of protection for citizens’ rights - Governments can ‘derogate from’ (suspend) articles of the Human Rights Act.
4) Control of sections of the media by wealthy, unaccountable business interests - eg: Murdoch group have owned the Times and the Sun simultaneously.
What has happened to voter turnout since 1945?
1) The average turnout from 1945-97 was 76%.
2) Since then, it has been lower, and the turnout for the 2001 election was the lowest since the end of WW1 in 1918.
How is party membership an indicator of a participation crisis?
1) Only 1.6% of the population belong to one of the 3 main UK political parties. In 1983, the figure was 3.8%.
2) Conservatives had just under 150k members in 2016 despite having 400,000 in the mid 1990s.
3) Labour saw a rise in membership under Corbyn though, with 515,000 in July 2016.
4) Lib Dems only had 76,000 in 2016.
What was the voter turnout % of the Scottish independence referendum and the EU referendum?
1) Scottish referendum: 84%
2) EU referendum: 72%
What was the voter turnout % of the Scottish independence referendum and the EU referendum?
1) Scottish referendum: 84%
2) EU referendum: 72%
What are some of the ways in which the electoral system should be reformed?
1) Changing the day for elections to the weekend.
2) Allowing people to vote anywhere in their constituency, instead of having a particular polling station.
3) Allowing voting to take place over several days.
What are some of the arguments for and against compulsory voting?
1) For:
- voting is a social duty as well as a right; people should be engaged in the processes that affect their lives.
- it would produce parliament that is more representative of the population as a whole.
- politicians would have to run better quality campaigns.
2) Disadvantages:
- In a preferential voting system, compulsory voting might lead to participants simply placing candidates in rank order.
- It is undemocratic to force people to take part in something that should be a matter of choice.
- It wouldn’t stop politicians focusing their campaigning on marginal seats, and neglecting safe seats.
- it does not address the deeper reasons why people decide not to vote.
What have been some of the broader reforms of the UK system that have been considered?
1) Changing the electoral system for Westminster. 2011 AV referendum shows this.
2) Further reform of parliament to make its processes more democratic and transparent.
3) The transfer of more government powers and functions to local bodies (eg) devolving power to the English regions or to an English parliament.
What categories of people are excluded from taking part in parliamentary elections?
1) People under the age of 18.
2) EU citizens
3) Members of the House of Lords
4) Prisoners
5) Those convicted of a corrupt or illegal electoral practice, who are barred for 5 years
6) People who are compulsorily detained in a psychiatric hospital.
What categories of people are excluded from taking part in parliamentary elections?
1) People under the age of 18.
2) EU citizens
3) Members of the House of Lords
4) Prisoners
5) Those convicted of a corrupt or illegal electoral practice, who are barred for 5 years
6) People who are compulsorily detained in a psychiatric hospital.
1) What was the Great Reform Act of 1832?
2) What did it bring about?
1) This act brought about the first major change.
2) The Act:
- abolished 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 counties.
- created a standard qualification for the franchise in the borough’s
How has the electoral system been developed since the Great Reform Act of 1832?
1) 1867 - Borough householders enfranchised.
2) 1884 - Rural householders put on same footing as borough ones.
3) 1918 - All men over 21 and women over 30 enfranchised. 75% of adult population can vote.
4) Terms for men and women equalised, full adult suffrage.
5) 1948 - End of plural voting.
6) 1969 - voting age reduced to 18.
When did female enfranchisement come through?
1) It came through in the 1918 Representation of the People Act.
What are pressure groups?
1) Groups who seek to influence the government (or another authority) to adopt their ideas.
What are the 3 main types of pressure groups?
1) Sectional (interest) groups - seeking to promote the interests of an occupation or another group in society. Eg: trade unions.
2) Cause (promotional) groups - focused on achieving a particular goal or drawing attention to an issue or group of related issues. Eg: Greenspace.
3) Social movements - similar to cause groups but more loosely structured. Social movements are usually politically radical and seek to achieve a single objective. Eg: the ‘Camps for Climate Action’ were created for short periods in 2007-10 to protest against the expansion of Heathrow.
What is the difference between an insider and an outsider group?
1) Insider groups rely on contacts with ministers and civil servants to get their way. Eg: the National Union of Farmers have close links with the relevant government department.
2) Outsider groups are 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.
What methods might insider pressure groups use?
1) Insider groups tend to negotiate quietly behind the scenes, using their private contacts in Whitehall.
2) They might even be given the opportunity to offer their views on draft legislation.
3) Organisations such as the National Farmers Union are able to offer the government the benefit of their specialised knowledge in return for influence over policy.
What methods might outsider pressure groups use?
1) Outsider groups typically resort to less discreet methods to draw attention to their concerns.
2) Lacking contacts within government, they may try to exercise influence through email campaigns and petitions, or staging demonstrations and publicity stunts.
3) Members of Black Lives Matter UK obstructed flights at London City airports in September 2016 to draw attention to their claim that ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by. pollution.
What are the relevant factors deciding the effectiveness of pressure group activity?
1) Resources - 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 group’s membership can also be important in persuading government that it reflects a significant section of public opinion.
2) Tactics and leadership - experienced, capable leadership is vital to success. Eg: The RSPCA played a key role in securing the ban on hunting with dogs in 2004 by collaborating with 2 similar groups. Another key to success is knowing which ‘access points’ in the UK political system to target.
3) Public support - pressure groups whose agenda is in step with public opinion are usually more successful than those whose objectives fail to engage it, or whose methods alienate potential sympathisers.
4) Government attitudes - insider contacts with government ministers and civil servants are often a key to success.
1) Who are the BMA?
2) What did they do?
3) How were their actions perceived?
1) The BMA is a sectional group whose main purpose is to protect the interests of doctors. It can also function as a cause group, on issues that affect public health.
2) - The BMA had contributed to the introduction of a ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces from 2007, and saw the prohibition of smoking in private vehicles as the next target.
- The BMA found difficulty in making a successful case, but managed to campaign for prohibition when children were being carried in a private vehicle, which attracted the support of other pressure groups.
- The BMA used online technology to lobby for support, and also made its case to the House of Lords. The ban came into place in October 2015.
3) This is a good illustration of successful pressure-group politics.
1) What are think tanks?
2) Provide an example of an influential think tank.
1) Groups of experts from different backgrounds who are brought together to investigate particular topics and to offer solutions to complicated economic, social or political issues.
2) The Centre for Social Justice was set up by former Tory leader Ian Duncan Smith to look for new solutions to the problems of people living in disadvantaged communities.
1) What are lobbyists?
2) What is their purpose?
1) Lobbyists are members of professional organisations who are paid by clients seeking access to government, or to MPs and members of the House of Lords.
2) Their purpose is to gain influence on behalf of their clients
