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UK Politics (Politics sector) > Democracy and Participation > Flashcards

Democracy and Participation Flashcards

1
Q

What is direct democracy?

A

-Policies and laws chosen/decided by the majority of all those eligible rather than representative
e.g a Referendums > UK 2016 Brexit

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2
Q

What are the advantages of direct democracy?

A

-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

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3
Q

What are the disadvantages of Direct democracy?

A

-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

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4
Q

What is representative democracy ?

A

-Elected people represent a group of people > Elected representatives make decisions on behalf of the people
e.g a General election

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5
Q

What is significant about Representative Democracy?

A

-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

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6
Q

What are e-petitions?

A

-Form of direct democracy
-enables the public to identify and raise issues with the govt.

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7
Q

How many signatures does an e-petition need for a govt response?

A

10,000

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8
Q

How many signatures does an e-petition need to be considered for a debate in parliament?

A

100,000

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9
Q

How many signatures were collected in 2017 to stop Donald Trump from making a star visit to the UK?

A

1.86million

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10
Q

What is Suffrage ?

A

The vote

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11
Q

What is participation ?

A

The engagement of the population in forms of political action

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12
Q

What is Partisan dealignment ?

A

-No alignment with a party
-Volatile voter
-Often decide to vote based on what a party offers

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13
Q

What are gladiators ?

A

A relatively small percentage of activists who are keen to participate

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14
Q

What are spectators ?

A

The large majority who observe the contest but who limit participation to voting

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15
Q

What are Apathetics?

A

They are non-participants who do not even watch the contest and are indifferent to the outcome

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16
Q

What is legitimacy ?

A

Whether it is properly accepted that a government or any political institution has the authority to have power and create rules

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17
Q

Define Power

A

The ability to make people do something they may not want to do

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18
Q

Define authority

A

The given right to influence other peoples behaviour and actions

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19
Q

What are types of participation?

A

-Party membership
-Voting
-Pressure groups
-Trade Unions

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20
Q

What is an Oligarchy?

A

-Political system where power lies in the hands of a few, privileged elite > not the mass of the population

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21
Q

How was Britain viewed to be an Oligarchy before 1832?

A

-Power exclusively in the hands of a small group of elite voters
-Voters = white, landowners, members of Church of England and were aristocrats

22
Q

What is the great reform act of 1832?

A

-Whig govt of lord grey
-1 in 5 male adults could now vote
-Abolished ‘rotten boroughs’

23
Q

What were ‘rotten boroughs’?

A

-Constituencies with almost no voters but elected two MPs every election

24
Q

What was the Second Reform Act of 1867?

A

-Conservative Govt of Disraeli
-Allowed many working-class men in cities to vote > 1/3 of all men could now vote

25
Q

What was the third reform act of 1884?

A

-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

26
Q

What was the representation of the peoples act 1918?

A

-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

27
Q

What was the Representation of the people act 1928?

A

-Baldwin’s conservative govt
-Women received vote on equal terms to men
-All men and women over 21 could vote
-Property qualification removed

28
Q

What was the Representation of the People act 1969?

A

-Wilson’s labour govt
-Voting age lowered to 18

29
Q

Who were the chartists?

A

-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

30
Q

What were the six points of the chartist?

A

-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

31
Q

How was point one of the charter achieved?

A

Representation of the people act 1918

32
Q

How was point two of the charter achieved?

A

-Secret ballot vote being introduced in 1878

33
Q

How was point four of the charter achieved?

A

-The constituencies were re-drawn in 1885 to make the boundaries equal in terms of population

34
Q

when did the Chartist movement collapse?

A

Shortly after the 1848 petition

35
Q

Which group emerged after the chartists?

A

The reform league

36
Q

When did the Suffragists emerge?

A

-1897

37
Q

When did the Suffragettes emerge?

A

-1903

38
Q

who led the suffragettes?

A

-Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Sylvia and Christabel

39
Q

What did the two women’s suffrage groups want to achieve?

A

-Secure the vote for women

40
Q

What was the Suffragist’s approach?

A

-Peaceful, constitutional methods
-Meetings
-leaflets
-petitions
-marches
-lobbying politicians

41
Q

Who was the leader of the Suffragists?

A

Millicent fawcet

42
Q

What was the Suffragettes approach?

A

-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

43
Q

Why was the Cat and Mouse Act passed?

A

-To keep the suffragettes alive and not create martyrs for the cause

44
Q

What happened at the Epsom Derby in 1913?

A

-Emily Davidson jumped in front of the kings horse and died from injuries

45
Q

What were the key arguments of both the Suffragettes and Suffragists?

A

-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

46
Q

How have ethnic groups and minority groups been underrepresented in govt?

A

-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

47
Q

What are the arguments supporting that there is a participation crisis in the UK?

A

-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

48
Q

What are the arguments against that there is a participation crisis in the UK?

A

-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

49
Q

What was the average turnout from 1945 - 1992 compared to 2019?

A

-Usually above 75% compared with 67.3% in 2019

50
Q

How can it be seen that political party membership is decreasing?

A

-The conservative membership, Labour membership and the Liberal Democrat membership combined only make up 1.7% of the electorate

51
Q

What was the conservative membership in the 1950s compared to 2024?

A

-2.8million
-172,437

52
Q

What challenges the British government’s legitimacy?

A

-The FPTP system > distorts party representation
-No recent Uk govt has won over 50% of those who have voted

UK Politics (Politics sector) (14 decks)

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