Democracy and participation

Question 1

Democracy

Answer 1

a system of government in which the people have ultimate power

Question 2

Participation

Answer 2

-the different ways in which people can get involved in the political process
-can range from standing for elective office or signing an e-petition
-the most central form of participation is voting in elections

Question 3

Representative democracy

Answer 3

a system of democracy in which people vote for elected representatives, eg. in general and local elections
- the elected representatives then make decisions on the behalf of the people

Question 4

Direct democracy

Answer 4

a system of democracy in which people decide on policy initiatives directly as opposed to through their elected representatives, eg. 2016 Brexit referendum

Question 5

Advantages of representative democracy

Answer 5

• reps. have the knowledge and skill needed to make difficult decisions on behalf of voters
• rep. govt. is more efficient than laying all laws and decisions directly before the public

Question 6

e-Petitions

Answer 6

• 10,000+ signatures gets a response from the government
• 100,000+ signatures gets considered for parliamentary debate
• 6 million people signed an e-petition to revoke Article 50 and have the UK remain in the EU
• nearly 2 million people signed a petition against Trump being invited for an official state visit

Question 7

Advantages of direct democracy

Answer 7

• promotes participation as people can get directly involved in the decision-making process
• improves accountability as elected reps. can’t interfere with the wishes of the people
• it is successful: both referendums and e-petitions are popular and often have high turnout (84.6% in 2014 scot independence referendum)

Question 8

Disadvantages of direct democracy

Answer 8

• parliamentary sovereignty means referendums aren’t binding on the government
• it is impractical: referendums are expensive (the Brexit referendum cost £130 million!)
• populist outcomes can prevail –> many sources of information and one-sided and people may not take a considered, long-term view

Question 9

Participation crisis - 2012 Police and Crime Commissioner Elections

Answer 9

just 15% of the electorate voted

Question 10

Participation crisis - Tory party membership 1950s vs 2018

Answer 10

• 1950s more than 2.5 million members
• 2018 only 124,000 members, however climbed back to over 200,000 by 2021

Question 11

Participation crisis - Senedd

Answer 11

turnout to Senedd elections has never reached 50%

Question 12

Participation crisis - Referendums

Answer 12

• 85% voted in 2014 Scottish independence referendum
• 72% voted in the 2016 Brexit referendum

Question 13

Participation crisis - Online engagement

Answer 13

• Corbyn has 2.4 million followers on Twitter
• Farage having 1.6 million – despite both being out of frontline politics