Democracy and Participation Flashcards
What is direct democracy?
-Policies and laws chosen/decided by the majority of all those eligible rather than representative
e.g a Referendums > UK 2016 Brexit
What are the advantages of direct democracy?
-Promotes political participation > People can participate directly in the decision-making process
-Improves accountability > cannot ignore the wishes of the people
-Improves political education > People motivated to be politically involved and gain an understanding
-Enhances legitimacy > Direct authority and mandate of the people
What are the disadvantages of Direct democracy?
-Lack of political education > Public not fully aware of what they are voting on > could undermine govt
-referendums > not binding on the govt - parliamentary sovereignty = constitution
-Populists can prevail > Short-term voters
-Turnout = low in referendums > AV in 2011 42% - reduces legitimacy
What is representative democracy ?
-Elected people represent a group of people > Elected representatives make decisions on behalf of the people
e.g a General election
What is significant about Representative Democracy?
-Elected Reps > knowledge and skills to make complex decisions on behalf of the voters
-Responsible for all areas of policy and decision-making> take a broader view of issues and balance effectively
-Belonging to a political party > voters know how reps will act when in power
-More efficient > don’t have to constantly go to the people for approval or rejection of laws
What are e-petitions?
-Form of direct democracy
-enables the public to identify and raise issues with the govt.
How many signatures does an e-petition need for a govt response?
10,000
How many signatures does an e-petition need to be considered for a debate in parliament?
100,000
How many signatures were collected in 2017 to stop Donald Trump from making a star visit to the UK?
1.86million
What is Suffrage ?
The vote
What is participation ?
The engagement of the population in forms of political action
What is Partisan dealignment ?
-No alignment with a party
-Volatile voter
-Often decide to vote based on what a party offers
What are gladiators ?
A relatively small percentage of activists who are keen to participate
What are spectators ?
The large majority who observe the contest but who limit participation to voting
What are Apathetics?
They are non-participants who do not even watch the contest and are indifferent to the outcome
What is legitimacy ?
Whether it is properly accepted that a government or any political institution has the authority to have power and create rules
Define Power
The ability to make people do something they may not want to do
Define authority
The given right to influence other peoples behaviour and actions
What are types of participation?
-Party membership
-Voting
-Pressure groups
-Trade Unions
What is an Oligarchy?
-Political system where power lies in the hands of a few, privileged elite > not the mass of the population
How was Britain viewed to be an Oligarchy before 1832?
-Power exclusively in the hands of a small group of elite voters
-Voters = white, landowners, members of Church of England and were aristocrats
What is the great reform act of 1832?
-Whig govt of lord grey
-1 in 5 male adults could now vote
-Abolished ‘rotten boroughs’
What were ‘rotten boroughs’?
-Constituencies with almost no voters but elected two MPs every election
What was the Second Reform Act of 1867?
-Conservative Govt of Disraeli
-Allowed many working-class men in cities to vote > 1/3 of all men could now vote
What was the third reform act of 1884?
-Liberal Govt of Gladstone
-Uniform franchise across the country for men
-all men who met property qualification could vote
-40% of adult men still excluded > mainly working-class men in rural counties
What was the representation of the peoples act 1918?
-Product of social and political changes caused by WW1
- war Coalition govt > Lloyd George govt
-All men over 21 or 19 for veterans could vote
-women over 30 who met property qual could vote
What was the Representation of the people act 1928?
-Baldwin’s conservative govt
-Women received vote on equal terms to men
-All men and women over 21 could vote
-Property qualification removed
What was the Representation of the People act 1969?
-Wilson’s labour govt
-Voting age lowered to 18
Who were the chartists?
-Chartists emerged after the 1832 Great Reform Act did nothing.
-an early example of a pressure group
- they demanded six points of the peoples charter
What were the six points of the chartist?
-All men to have the right to vote
-Voting should take place by secret ballot
-Parliamentary elections every year not every 7
-Equally sized constituencies
-MPs to be paid
-property qualification to become an MP to be abolished
How was point one of the charter achieved?
Representation of the people act 1918
How was point two of the charter achieved?
-Secret ballot vote being introduced in 1878
How was point four of the charter achieved?
-The constituencies were re-drawn in 1885 to make the boundaries equal in terms of population
when did the Chartist movement collapse?
Shortly after the 1848 petition
Which group emerged after the chartists?
The reform league
When did the Suffragists emerge?
-1897
When did the Suffragettes emerge?
-1903
who led the suffragettes?
-Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Sylvia and Christabel
What did the two women’s suffrage groups want to achieve?
-Secure the vote for women
What was the Suffragist’s approach?
-Peaceful, constitutional methods
-Meetings
-leaflets
-petitions
-marches
-lobbying politicians
Who was the leader of the Suffragists?
Millicent fawcet
What was the Suffragettes approach?
-More militant > prepared to break the law
-criminal danger/arson
-Frequently went on hunger strike when arrested (led to govt Cat and Mouse act -allowing force-feeding)
-chained themselves to rails
Why was the Cat and Mouse Act passed?
-To keep the suffragettes alive and not create martyrs for the cause
What happened at the Epsom Derby in 1913?
-Emily Davidson jumped in front of the kings horse and died from injuries
What were the key arguments of both the Suffragettes and Suffragists?
-Women are the intellectual equals of men
-Women paid equivalent taxes and obeyed the laws the same as men
-Women could already vote in local elections > serve as mayors, doctors and teachers
-Women bring additional experience
-Franchise had already been reformed to include 2/3 of all men
How have ethnic groups and minority groups been underrepresented in govt?
-In 1987 the first ethnic minority groups were elected as MPs
-Only 10% of MPs in 2019 were from a minority ethnic background
-Nov 2019 -25% of black voters and 24% of Asian voters had not registered to vote
What are the arguments supporting that there is a participation crisis in the UK?
-Turnout has been low in many recent elections > undermines the legitimacy of results > essential for representative democracy so govt can claim to have legitimate mandate
-Membership for political parties has declined
-Partisan dealignment > Voters increasingly feel no affiliation to a party
What are the arguments against that there is a participation crisis in the UK?
-Election turnout is not consistently low > Referendums can see high turnout
-Shift away from traditional modes of participation > Citizens still participate - in different ways - e-petitions
-Considerable growth in membership of pressure groups >millions of members > 5.53million in trade unions
-Internet-based movements (Me too campaign
What was the average turnout from 1945 - 1992 compared to 2019?
-Usually above 75% compared with 67.3% in 2019
How can it be seen that political party membership is decreasing?
-The conservative membership, Labour membership and the Liberal Democrat membership combined only make up 1.7% of the electorate
What was the conservative membership in the 1950s compared to 2024?
-2.8million
-172,437
What challenges the British government’s legitimacy?
-The FPTP system > distorts party representation
-No recent Uk govt has won over 50% of those who have voted
