Democracy And Participation

Question 1

What the functions of democracy

Answer 1

Representation - People need to put their views across to the government.
Participation – must be a way to be engaged and involved in political process. Accountability-the government must explain their actions.
Power dispersal-power must be spread between different bodies of government. Legitimacy-branches of government should have legal authority and fairly represent the people.
Education-the political process is open to all to educate citizens to make informed decisions

Question 2

Types of democracy

Answer 2

Liberal democracy - the right to vote is widespread and representatives act in the interests of everyone in society. An emphasis is to protect the rights of individuals.
Majoritarian democracy- the will and desires of the majority of population are the prime consideration of the government.
Pluralist -competition between groups who represent different concerns. Power is evenly distributed across society. The government is neutral and makes decisions based on argument.
Presidential democracy-the executive is elected separately from legislative and is chosen by and directly accountable to the people
Direct democracy -refers to any occasion where citizens are involved in the decision-making process.
Representative democracy-describes any system where people transfer the power to make decisions to an elected representative

Question 3

Positive and negative aspects of democracy in the uk

Answer 3

Positive
free and fair elections, universal suffrage, the party system, pressure groups, Parliamentary sovereignty and devolution.
Negative
Un elected elements, turn out, West Lothian question, voting system, weakness of electoral system and lack of entrenched rights

Question 4

Positive aspects of representative democracy

Answer 4

Everyone is represented by an MP
FPTP provides a clear winner
variety of parties
everyone over 18 can vote
pressure groups represents a variety of interests and people
new groups and parties are formed easily to deal with issues
the electoral commission makes elections fair

Question 5

Negative aspects of representative democracy

Answer 5

FPTP means MPs mostly don’t win a majority
the electoral system leads to wasted votes and unproportional outcomes
safe seats lead to lack of meaningful choice the electoral commission cannot regulate all spending by parties
difference in size and wealth means competition in pressure groups is unfair

Question 6

Arguments for direct democracy

Answer 6

Pure form of democracy
increases legitimacy in decisions improves participation and engagement
it works, Switzerland regularly uses this to make decisions

Question 7

Arguments against direct democracy

Answer 7

Not practical to always do due to the amount of issues
Tyranny of the majority - minority groups have concerns overlooked
It undermines elected representatives
Low turnout makes elections illegitimate
People may vote on emotion and not what’s best

Question 8

Facts on UK democracy

Answer 8

Safe seats: Liverpool, Walton labour won 86% of the vote with MP Dan Carden. However in Sheffield Hallam the Lib Dem safe seat since 2005 lost to MP Jared O’Mara in 2017.
2015 election 29% of the commons were women and 7% were from ethnic minorities
Turnout: 2001 59%, 2005 62%, 2010 65%, 2015 66% and 2017 69%.

Question 9

Great reform act 1832

Answer 9

Led by middle class campaigners. This extended the vote to 300,000 people, based on property rather than land. However only 5.6% of the population could vote.
Middle class created by the industrial revolution, they contributed more to the economy than the super rich so they got the vote

Question 10

Representation of the people’s act 1918

Answer 10

Extended the franchise to all women over 30 and all men over 21.
Occurred as women were starting to work and pay tax and men were rewarded for fighting in the war

Question 11

Representation of the people’s act 1928

Answer 11

Extended the franchise to everyone 21. Due to the NUSEC. They campaigned peacefully and succeeded to extend the franchise under Stanley Baldwin’s government

Question 12

Representation of the people’s act 1969

Answer 12

Anyone over 18 could vote, due to the work of the Larry committee set up in 1965. Hey suggested everyone over 18 should have the vote as everyone over 18 were considered as adults

Question 13

Suffragists and suffragettes

Answer 13

Suffragists - (NUWSS) set up by Millicent Fawcett in 1897. Non militant group, who had 100,000 members in 1914. They campaigned for women’s voting rights

Suffragettes - (WSPU) set up by Emily Pankhurst. Aims were to securing equal voting rights, female only membership, to be a group of actions not words and to focus on political equality. Violent actions were used

Question 14

Chartists

Answer 14

Working class movement in 1836. Aims were to get the vote for every man over 21, MPs don’t have to own property, paid MPs, equal voting constituencies and elections each year for parliament
They had two groups
Moral force chartists led by William Lovett, they were a peaceful group
Physical force Chartists led by Feargus O’Connor, they were a violent group
Chartists failed due to lack of funding, different aims and lack of leadership

Question 15

Extending the vote in the UK today

Answer 15

Prisoners - they don’t have the vote. In the 1990s John Hurst began a legal campaign to extend the franchise. The high court dismissed this in 2001 but in 2005 the European court on human rights declared this was a violation of human rights but the UK government ignored this.

16 year olds - votes at 16 is a campaign by a variety of groups. This is showing impact as 16 local councils, Scottish parliament, the welsh and Northern Irish assembly all support this campaign

Question 16

Impact on class voting

Answer 16

Historically class was a key factor in party alliance. In 1870 88% of voted went to the two main parties. In 2015 it involved 6 parties but in 2017 the two main parties got 82.2% of the vote 
He upper class traditionally voted conservative and the lower classes voted labour. This was until the 1980s but today people vote on policies due to more political education and access to politics being easier with new technology

Question 17

Impact on gender voting

Answer 17

2017 - there was a 6% bias to the conservatives but females were split evenly between the two main parties.
Little difference in opinion except on foreign intervention, nuclear power and nuclear weapons.
This explains Corbyn’s loss in the male gender

Question 18

Impact of age on voting

Answer 18

Younger generations are less likely to vote. In 2017 turnout with people between 18-24 was 64%, this was the highest turnout in 25 years.
The younger generations are more left whereas the older generations are more right.
You are more likely to vote conservative after the age of 47.
In the 2017 election Jeremy Corbyn won 2/3 of the votes from people under 30.

Question 19

Impact of ethnicity on voting

Answer 19

Immigration is more likely to happen in areas with industry. Places like London, Birmingham and Manchester are more diverse and are likely to have a larger vote from minority groups.
The Labour Party is more likely to represent these areas.
White voters tend to vote more right and ethnic minorities tend to vote left.
But 87.1% of the population is white

Question 20

Conventional methods of participation

Answer 20

Elections turnout from 1945-92 was usually above 75%. Since then turnout has been 59% 2001, 61% 2005, 65% 2010, 66% 2015 and 69% 2017.
Since the 2010 election turnout has been increasing meaning the UK is more politically engaged.
Could be due to referendums such as the 204 Scottish independence referendum with 84.6% turnout and the EU referendum 2016 with a turnout of 72.2%. Referendums have engaged the public, increasing turnout in general elections.

Question 21

Conventional methods of participation

Party membership

Answer 21

1950s labour had 1 million members and the conservatives had 2.8 million. 3.8% of the population were members. Since the 1950s decrease in membership has occurred and it is less than 1% today.
This could show disengagement with the main parties but it could also mean that people tend to vote on policies and issues and not the same party each election.
When membership was at its highest 80-90% of the vote was to the main parties, the decrease in membership is due to more competition as there were 11 parties in the 2015 parliament.
Since the 2015 election labour membership has grown due to Corbyn and the cheap labour membership

Question 22

Conventional forms of participation

Trade unions

Answer 22

Traditionally been a place where workers exercise their rights
In 1980 trade union membership was at 12.2 million. But in 2016 it was 6.2 million members.
This could be due to Thatcher weakening their powers and reducing economic groups like the confederation of British industry.
Resulted in a decline of trade unions and workers were left with a weaker voice representing them.
However the decline in trade unions could be due to the gig economy.

Question 23

Unconventional methods of participation

Pressure groups

Answer 23

Pressure groups are groups with a single interest or goal.
Sectional pressure groups represent their part of society and they act in the best interests of their members.
Causal groups are for an issue which doesn’t directly affect its members
Inside pressure groups have a relationship with the government and outside groups need to gain media attention as they lack this relationship with the government
The RMT secured an Olympics bonus and the British bankers association hired lobbyists to persuade the government to cut corporation tax.

Question 24

Unconventional methods of participation

Think tanks

Answer 24

Think tanks are formulated to develop policy ideas. They offer academic and focused research to help the government make a decision. They privately funded.
They rely on working with the government or aligning with a political party.
The Adam Smith Institute used by Thatcher and worked on the introduction of free market policies.
The snow Group (conservative think tank) founded in 1951 was used to counter socialism

Question 25

Unconventional methods of participation

Lobbyists

Answer 25

They meet with political figures and try to persuade them to support particular aims.
They are professional lobbying firms who are contracted by corporations

Question 26

Unconventional methods of participation

Corporations

Answer 26

Corporations often work with the government to develop legislation. They look to put pressure on the government to benefit them.
Thy have a huge amount of influence as they control a huge sector of the economy. They want the government to introduce favourable legislation, or they threaten to relocate.
Microsoft is the last company to do this if large import tariffs on goods are introduced

Question 27

Human rights

Answer 27

These are rights that all human are entitled to, they are absolute, universal and fundamental.
Since the HRA 1998, a growing number of conflicts between the judiciary and the government has occurred. As the judiciary have more power to challenge the government and it makes it easier for people to use the judicial system to challenge the government.
Pressure groups protect rights by putting pressure on the government. Liberty campaigned against the investigatory powers act.
The HRA 1998 includes article 2 (the right to life), article 6 (the right to a fair trial) and article 5 (the right to liberty and security).

Question 28

How democracy can be improved

Answer 28

Compulsory voting - fines for not voting. This occurs in Belgium and they have turnouts of 93.96%.
Reform the commons - politics in the UK should be less adversial. Should be more technology for online questioning and public scrutiny and it should be more open to the public.
Monarchy - undemocratic, could replace with an elected president, however this would undermine parliamentary sovereignty
Codified constitution - his would entrench rights but it means the unelected judiciary have more power, making it harder for the government to make reforms.
E-democracy - public could give thoughts on legislation before it is passed.
Reforming devolved system - could be an English parliament