Democracy and participation

Question 1

why is participation important in politics?

Answer 1

-people are consenting to be ruled and secondly they confer legitimacy on those who do rule.
-are able to hold their representatives to account

Question 2

examples of formal participation?

Answer 2

-the election of representatives, voting in referendums, membership of political parties

Question 3

examples of informal participation?

Answer 3

-online activism, signing a petition discussing politics etc.

Question 4

evidence for and against party membership participation crisis?

Answer 4

-FOR:
-membership of political parties has decreased with the Cons having 150,000 members in 2016 and 400,000 in the 1990s
-AGAINST:
-membership has increased for Labour with 190,000 in 2015 and 515,000 by 2015
-OVERALL:
most political parties have seen an increase but compared to the high population still low participation.

Question 5

evidence for and against voter turnout participation crisis?

Answer 5

-FOR:
-voting decreased in 2001 from 83% in 1950 to 59%
-AGAINST:
-335,443 signatures as more people get involved online.

Question 6

evidence for an against engagement and interest in politics participation crisis?

Answer 6

-FOR:
-interest for politics is at an all time low at 42%
-1/3 of sample said they’d discussed politics last year.

Question 7

who is to blame for the participation crisis?

Answer 7

-Media, 2011 phone hacking scandal revealed that employees of Rupert Murdoch had been involved in illegal information gathering which further reduced publics trust in the media.
-decline of social capital
-blame of politicians

Question 8

arguments for making voting compulsory?

Answer 8

-Voting is a social duty as well as a right: people should be engaged in the process that affects their lives.
-It would produce a Parliament that is more representative of the whole.
-Politicians would have to run better campaigns and governments would have to frame their policies with the whole electorate in mind.
- Voters are not obliged to vote for one of the candidates if they conscientiously cannot do so;
it would still be legal to spoil one’s ballot paper or a ‘none of the above’ box could be put on the ballot paper

Question 9

arguments against making voting compulsory?

Answer 9

-If a preferential system was used where voters vote by
numbering candidates then they just might number
1,2,3 from the top of the ballot paper.
-It is undemocratic to force people to take part in
something that should be a matter of choice.
-It would not change the nature of campaigns as much
as people think and politicians would still focus their
campaigns on marginal seats.
-It does not address the deeper reasons why people
decide not to vote.

Question 10

examples of e-petitions?

Answer 10

-e-petition gained 156,216 signatures to look into the causes of death of those who died at Hillsborough as a result of this and a motion in the house of commons files were released and fresh inquests into the cause of death were held and David Duckenfield the police officer stood trial for manslaughter again.
-2014 38 degrees organised an email campaign concerning zero-hour contracts and it asked thousands of people to send the employment minister emails and helped bring the contracts to the top of the political agenda

Question 11

arguments that e-petitions enhance democracy?

Answer 11

-Increase participation bringing people who do not engage in conventional politics into the process
-Make for a better and more informed electorate.
-Communicate directly between the government and the governed
-Enhance disperse of power and influence and give wider access to decision-makers.

Question 12

arguments that e-petitions threaten democracy?

Answer 12

-Give greater access to ant-democratic and extremist voices who reach a wider audience than conventional
politics.
-Makes distinguishing between fact and fiction much harder.
-May increase tendency for government to be overly influenced by short-term vocal campaigns that do not reflect wider public opinion.

Question 13

what are citizens assemblies?

Answer 13

-involve participants who are randomly selected to be representative of the population as a whole and they follow a three-step process.
-first they learn about the issue from different experts
-secondly they consider the evidence with others.
-third stage they decide proposals based on what they have learnt and discussed.
-usually commissioned by institutions grappling with an issue.

Question 14

example of a citizen assembly?

Answer 14

-Economic and social research council funded Brexit in 2017 for two weeks .
-experts from the fields of trade and migration gave ten minute slots of evidence.
-of the 50 members 25 voted leave 22 remain and 3 didn’t outcome of the discussion was that most members wanted a soft Brexit or stay in the single market and customs unit than leave with no deal.

Question 15

arguments that Citizens assemblies enhance democracy?

Answer 15

-allows people to get involved and raises legitimacy
-citizens possess particular perspective and knowledge that politicians and officials often lack.
-doesn’t take decision making out of the hands of the ministers.
-can overcome the sense of powerlessness

Question 16

arguments that Citizens Assemblies don’t enhance democracy?

Answer 16

-they are advisory and can be ignored
-expensive to set up and organise
-not everyone has the time to participate
-should such small groups have any influence?

Question 17

what is direct democracy?

Answer 17

-direct, unmediated and continuous participation of citizens in the tasks of government, which means that citizens express themselves and make the decisions.
-referendum is the most common modern form.

Question 18

which is representative democracy?

Answer 18

-operates through the ability of representatives to speak for or act on behalf of the people.

Question 19

advantages of direct democracy?

Answer 19

-A ‘Pure Form of Democracy’ everyone has a say on the issues of the day rather than expressed through representatives.
-Encourages popular participation in politics by expecting people to their duties as citizens seriously.
-Removes need for trusted representatives as people can take responsibility for their own decisions.
-Improves political education of the people
-It works – Countries like Switzerland regularly use direct democracy to make decisions and seems to function effectively.

Question 20

disadvantages of direct democracy?

Answer 20

-Impractical in a large, heavily populated modern state
where decision-making is complicated
-Many people will not want to go – or – feel qualified
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 view point
-Emotional responses –people tend to make decisions
on short-term emotional impulses rather than longer
term political factors

Question 21

advantages of representative democracy?

Answer 21

-It is the only form of democracy that can operate in large complex societies dealing with complicated issues.
-It is more efficient as ordinary citizens are relieved of the day-to-day burden of making key decisions
-Representatives offer choice of ways of running things through competing programmes via political parties.
-Minority rights are better protected as representatives have to represent the whole community.
-Government is by experts as politicians are well educated and are better informed about key political issues because it is their job to be.

Question 22

disadvantages of representative democracy?

Answer 22

-May lead to reduced participation as people choose to hand responsibility to politicians.
-Parties and Pressure Groups may be run by elites who push their own agenda rather than that of wider society.
-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 or become distant from their voters and come to be seen as out of touch with ordinary people.

Question 23

what are the 6 functions of democracy?

Answer 23

-representation
-accountability
-participation
-power dispersal
-legitimacy
-education

Question 24

what does representative democracy allow us to do?

Answer 24

-hold politicians to account, and people had given their consent to be governed and therefore give the actions of government legitimacy.

Question 25

what is consent?

Answer 25

-in order to rule government has to earn the right by gaining consent from the people this is seen by the process of winning an election.

Question 26

what is legitimacy?

Answer 26

-political principle claimed by governments that win mandates following victory in democratic elections.
-link between the election and right to rule and this is seen as the electoral mandate, which is when a party who has been elected as the government has the authority of the electorate to carry out its manifesto commitments.

Question 27

strengths of the doctrine of the mandate?

Answer 27

-grants clear authority to an incoming government and so strengthens it’s legitimacy.
-it allows Parliament and the voters to judge the performance of the government effectively.
-demonstrates clearly when a government may be overstepping its elective authority.

Question 28

weaknesses of the doctrine of the mandate?

Answer 28

-parties in the UK today are always elected with less than 50% of the popular vote so their mandate can be called into question.
-those who voted for the governing party do not necessarily support all its manifesto commitments.
-it is not clear whether the government has a mandate to carry out policies not contained in its last manifesto.

Question 29

what is accountability?

Answer 29

-refers to voters having the ability to decide whether to support an individual representative or a government continuing in power as they make decisions which effect us, we can ask for them to continue in office if happy or vote for another party.

Question 30

how do parliament hold the government to account?

Answer 30

-questions
-debates
-committees

Question 31

how do civil servants hold the representatives to account?

Answer 31

-media
-pressure groups

Question 32

what is social representation?

Answer 32

-be broadly in line with the characteristics of the population as a whole

Question 33

how have parties increased the number of women candidates?

Answer 33

-used all women shortlists, used by labour in which some constituency parties to select their parliamentary candidate from a list of only women and has boosted the number of female MPs elected.
-priority list, Cameron introduced a priority list for the top 100 Tory target seats and at least half were women.
-open primaries, tory party
-created new parties, The Women’s Equality Party and fielded 7 candidates in the 2017 GE.
-pressure groups, 2013 50:50 Parliament and encourages inspires and supports political engagement.

Question 34

what benefits are there to achieving 50:50 gender balance in Parliament?

Answer 34

-equal representation
-influences girls to have interests in politics
-moral argument that they should be there
-loss of talent

Question 35

how is democracy upheld?

Answer 35

-peaceful transition of power
-free elections
-fair elections
-participation
-freedom of expression and information
-freedom of association
-protection of rights and liberties

Question 36

arguments in favour of lowering voting age to 16?

Answer 36

-start a career at 16, so should be able to have a say in political decisions NI in 2020 rising.
-representative views of the younger generation.
-encourages young people to get involved.

Question 37

arguments against lowering the voting age to 16?

Answer 37

-irresponsible
-18-24 already have low turnout suggest 16-18 will have lower
-not been strong demands for it