Democracy Flashcards

Question

Evidence to suggest party system under RD is positive?

Answer 1

8 parties represented in Parliament with 11 in the last decade

Answer 2

Mainly two party system due to FPTP as votes for smaller parties are wasted

Answer 3

Falling voter turnout, declining party membership, drop in trust in politicians

Answer 4

Referendums have a high voter turnout, voter turnout has generally increased in General elections since 2001 Between 2015 and 2017 there was a sharp rise in party membership

Answer 5

More direct democracy, voting and electoral reform, institutional reforms

Answer 6

Lobbying ministers- Insider pressure groups such as BMA Developing links with Political Parties- Insider groups such as trade unions and Labour Party Influencing public opinion- Save Ralph advert made by animal testing by the HSI and protests Direct action such as civil disobedience- Just Stop Oil Using the Courts- Badger trust and legal challenge on HS2 Standing for election- Guildford Green Belt

Answer 7

Contradiction to government policy- Government are less likely to listen to pressure groups that contradict their policies such as NUS failed its campaign to stop tuition fee increase in 2011 Government resistance- Government can resist popular campaigns such as Stop War Coalition protest in 2003 despite being one of the largest protests in history, Blair government were not committed to this course of action Opposition from other groups- Failure of 'Forest' who aimed to defend smokers' rights was countered by rival pressure group ASH who were backed by health organisations such as BMA Lack of public support

Answer 8

Encourages participation- in 2014 over 4.5 million people were members of Britain's environmental and conservation pressure groups Allows politicians to make policy choices on the wider interest of people as pressure groups will fight for specific policies- improves legitimacy

Answer 9

Can be argued that only the wealthiest and the insider pressure groups actually make change such as lobbying Only makes impact if it aligns with governments views already such as the Stop the War Coalition as the largest protest of 1 million people failed to prevent the invasion of Iraq in 2003 because the Blair government was not only committed to this course of action so the government easily shrugged off the protest

Answer 10

Many see think tanks as enriching democracy by carrying out political research, developing policy options and aiding public debate They use their expertise to enable the public and politicians to weigh up different ideas

Answer 11

Critics argue that think tanks push policies and evidence that favour the powerful and corporate interests who fund them, undermining democracy Most are not transparent about their funding such as Adam Smith Institute and Policy Exchange

Answer 12

Allows groups who are likely to be impacted by a particular decision to engage with the government and Parliament Introduction of transparency of lobbying act helps to increase the trust in politics by ensuring that consultant lobbyists have to sign up to an official register and disclose 4 times per year a list of clients

Answer 13

Can be abused by those seeking to further their own private interests- only the wealthiest groups can afford to spend vast sums of money on lobbying and can rely on those they know rather then what they know in order to influence policy In 1998, Derek Draper was caught by the observer boasting about his links to at least 17 people in the Labour Government and in 2009, two Labour peers were suspended from the House of Lords for allegedly offering amendments to legislation in return for payments of £120,000 Influence of Lobbying, particularly by powerful industry groups and alcohol groups, is seen as having undue influence on policy making. Revolving door between lobbying firms and public office suggests that influence is more about who you know then what you know, undermining the idea of equal participation

Answer 14

Judicial review and legal framework Respect of Civil Liberties and rights in Parliament and public bodies Commitment to human rights in wider society and expanding upon them

Answer 15

Courts have too much power in deciding rights as they expand on laws themselves such as prisoners rights despite being unelected and unaccountable Conservatives established an independent panel to look whether there was a need for a reform of the judicial review process to see if the right balance was being struck between the rights of citizens to challenge executive decisions and the need for effective and efficient government

Answer 16

Allows citizens to challenge decisions made by public bodies , including the government, which they believe may be unlawful or contravene rights. This allows the courts in the UK to protect the rights of the individual against the power of the state. In particular, since judges are unelected and unaccountable, they are free to protect the rights of the individual against the overbearing state whereas elected politicians need to pay close attention to the wishes of the majority to win re-election. The court's protection of the rights of prisoners, suspected terror suspects and migrants even where the rulings are unpopular seem to back this up. If a public body contravenes a right, the courts can award a just and appropriate remedy and where an Act of Parliament contravenes the HRA, the courts can issue a declaration of incompatibility. The courts cannot strike down an Act of Parliament and this means that they are part of the discussion about rights, but leaves Parliament with the final say in determining the law regarding human rights. As a result, Parliament has changed the law in response to court decisions in cases regarding civil partnerships and the police keeping DNA and fingerprints on file, but those changes were passed by elected politicians.

Answer 17

* The Labour Government's Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, introduced indefinite detention for terror suspects, which was ruled incompatible in the Belmarsh case. The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005, which introduced control orders, suffered two defeats with 18-hour curfews ruled in breach of rights in 2007, while in 2009 the reliance on secret evidence to impose control orders was seen to clash with the right to a fair trial. In 2016, the Conservative Government oversaw the passage of the Investigatory Powers Act, which detailed the power of law enforcement and intelligence and security agencies to obtain communications and data about communications. Liberty crowdfunded a challenge against the Act, and in 2017 it was ruled that the government unlawfully obtained data from communications companies and didn't put in place operational safeguards under Article 8. This led the Government to introduce The Investigatory Powers (Codes of Practice) Regulations 2018, which was created to ensure there was more rigorous safeguarding and oversight, including the setting up of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner to oversee the powers.

Answer 18

Parliament established a Joint Committee on Human Rights, made up of both Peers from the House of Lords and MPs from the Houses of Commons in order to scrutinise every government bill for its compatibility with human rights. On 19 March 2020, the Committee opened an inquiry into whether the Government response to the pandemic was complaint with human rights, in particular Articles 2,5 and 8 The Equality and Human Rights Commission promotes and upholds equality and human rights ideals and laws across England, Scotland and Wales. In 2020, the Commission carried out investigations into allegations of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and suspected past pay discrimination against women at the BBC.

Answer 19

There has been growing concern about human rights inflation, where individual rights like the right to privacy and a family life have been elevated to the same level as absolute rights like the right to life. This inflation of the right to privacy and family life has severely limited the state, the police and intelligence services from doing their job of keeping the people safe and deporting suspected terrorists and criminals. There is a developing narrative that ECtHR judges don't really appreciate or understand the UK human rights tradition. It is better to leave judgements about rights to MPs in Westminster and UK judges who understand British traditions and ways of thinking. This has led elements of the Conservative party to campaign for replacing the HRA with a British Bill of Rights, written by Parliament and ruled on in UK courts.

Answer 20

Liberty has been vocal in campaigning against any weakening of the HRA or Judicial Review and against discrimination in policing. The devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland remain opposed to any changes to the HRA. The HRA and Equalities Act are frequently used by groups and individuals to get public bodies and Parliament to change their minds without resorting to court proceedings. The survivors and the families of those who died in the Hillsborough Stadium tragedy have used Article 2, the right to life, to argue that the original Coroner's Inquest that ruled all deaths were accidental did not meet the requirement for a proper, effective investigation into all deaths caused by the State or where it appears the State has failed to protect life. In 2016, the new inquests ruled that the 96 victims had been unlawfully killed.