Democracy and participation (my sk) Flashcards
What is direct democracy?
Direct democracy is when the people themselves make important political decisions
What is representative democracy?
Representative democracy is when the people elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf
What are some advantages of direct democracy?
- May potentially increase participation
- The purest form of democracy
- Holds government to account more and can help decrease their power
What are some disadvantages of direct democracy?
- There could potentially be a risk of extremists
- May be less practical for countries with a high population
- There may be people who are less educated on the topics they are voting for
What are some examples of direct democracy?
- Referendums
- Electronic petitions
- Consultative exercises
- Open primaries
Where have referendums been used?
- Scottish Independent Referendum(2014)
- UK membership of the EU Referendum(2016)
What are some criticisms of referendums?
One criticism is that if influence is directly given to the people to determine government policy on vital issues, referendums challenge the core principles of representative democracy
Where have electronic petitions been used?
- Meningitis vaccination made available to all children
- Helped call for a second referendum on whether the UK should leave the EU
What are some criticisms of electronic petitions?
- As a result of e-petitions, the gov have had to engage with a number of issues which the public feel strongly about but don’t necessarily need to be debated
What have consultative exercises been used?
- The gov consulting the public and those who will be affected, by the expansion of Heathrow and the HS2 link
What are some criticisms of consultative exercises?
- What the public say is not actually binding (doesn’t actually have an impact)
The effectiveness of the exercise only depends on how representative the survey is
What are different types of representative democracy?
- Social
- Causal
- Representing the national interest
- Party
- Constituency
What is social representation?
Social representation is when the characteristics of the members of the representative bodies are in line with the characteristics of the populations as a whole
What are examples of social representation?
2024 election:
- 37% of MP’s are privately educated as opposed to 7% of the population
- 20% of MP’s went to oxbridge
- 263 out of of 650 MP’s are women
- There are 90 BAME members of parliament
What is causal representation?
Causal representation is when representative bodies represent the community for a specific cause
What are examples of causal representation?
- Caroline Lucas represents her constituency but also represents environmental issues too, as the only member of the Green party in the HOC
- Members of the European Research Group (ERG) represented the cause of Brexit in the Theresa May parliament 2016 - 2019
What is representing the national interest representation?
These are representatives that don’t just represent their consitituencie’s interests but their nations interests
What are examples of representing the national interest representation?
- Conservative Zac Goldsmith in his Richmond seat in 2016 supported the national interest to expand a major airport, which would affect his constituency by causing noise and pollution
- Lisa Nandy, who is a current shadow minister, who wanted to remain in the EU but represented seats that voted to leave as it supported the national interest
What is party representation?
Party representation is parties stating their policies and representing the people who have voted for them
What are examples of party representation?
- ## Christian Wakeford switched from a Conservative to Labour in 2022 and has not fought a by-election as he continues to sit as a labour MP even though he was elected as a conservative one
What is constituency representation?
Constituency representation is essentially those that are elected as MP’s of their constituencies having similar social and economic concerns about their constituency, similar to their constituents
What are examples of constituency representation?
- In PMQ’s, MP’s will ask specific questions about their constituencies to help their constituency improve
- MP’s can also hold regular surgeries where they can meet their MP
How democratic is the UK Political system?
Free elections as anyone over the age of 18 can vote and there is little electoral fraud
(Although there are significant number of people that are excluded from this)
How democratic is the UK Political system?
Fair elections, as there are proportional systems in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and other devolved bodies
(Although the UK GE are based around FPTP which is a majoritarian system)
How democratic is the UK Political system?
Rule of law, which means that all citizens, and the government itself, are treated equally under the law due to the Equality Act 2010
(Although, the monarch are exempt from these legal restrictions and statistical evidence has shown that those of higher socio-economic standing are treated more leniently
What are some potential democratic reforms?
Replace the FPTP electoral system with a more proportional one, which would increase the representation of minorities and voter turnout
(Although, proportional systems make coalitions more likely and harder to hold account)
What are some potential democratic reforms?
Replace the monarch with an elected head of state which can increase legitimacy and increase accountability
(Although, the monarch being popular and neutral can act as a unifying figure in a way that politicians cant)
What are some potential democratic reforms?
Replacing the HOL with an elected chamber which would increase legitimacy, making it more democratic, and represent the diversity of the UK
(Although, replacing it might cause greater rivalry with the HOC, leading to gridlock in the political process[not being able to pass laws])
What are some potential democratic reforms?
Codifying the UK constitution as it will decrease the risk of government exploitation and increase the protection of human rights people have as it cant be taken away by the gov
(Although, a codified constitution might prove to be too rigid and there would be questions about who would implement it and who would write it)
How do we categorise pressure groups?
Sectional/Interest or Cause/Promotional
How do we categorize pressure groups?
Insider or Outsider
What are Sectional/Interest pressure groups?
They represent the interests of particular groups in society
- For example, the Muslim Council of Britain specifically represents the interests of British Muslims
What are Cause/Promotional pressure groups?
They promote a particular cause
- For example, Friends of the Green Earth and Greenpeace are united by their shared interest of protecting the environment
What are Insider pressure groups?
They have privileged access to government decision making
- For example, the British Medical Association(BMA) represents doctors and so has specialist info which the gov would wish to consult
What are Outsider pressure groups?
They gain the attention of the gov by winning public support as they don’t possess access to political decision making
- For example, The Ghurka Justice Campaign which achieved residency rights for Ghurkas who had served in the British military
How do pressure groups achieve success? (RIPE)
- Resources
- Ideological compatibility with the gov
- Popularity
- Expertise
What is one successful Uk pressure group campaign?
Motoring organisations and smart motorways
- The tactics that both the Automobile Association(AA) and the Royal Automobile club(RAC) deployed made most of their professional expertise and insider status
- Both organisations were critical of Johnsons plans to introduce smart motorways as they saw it as an increased risk to drivers
- In 2021, the AA and RAC worked together with the West Midlands police and Highways England to provide special evidence to the Transport Select Committee
- On the recommendation of the committee, the gov delayed building smart motorways for 5 years whilst safety checks were being assessed
What is one successful Uk pressure group campaign?
Marcus Rashford and free school meals
- During 2020 lockdown, child on FSM didnt get any food and Manchester United player, Marcus Rashford empathised with this
- He worked closely with the charity Fareshare to provide FSM and used his twitter account to advertise businesses that were offering FSM
-This resulted in an e-petition which was signed by 1.1million people, causing the gov to announce a £120 million “summer food fund” and a £170 million “covid winter grant scheme” for vunerable families
What is one unsuccessful UK pressure group campaign?
Stop HS2
- Stop HS2 was established in 2010 in response to the decision to build a high end speed rail link between london and birmingham
- They organised several high profile demonstrations and gained cross party support from several MP’s
- In 2013, MP’s voted 399 to 42 in favour and in the HOL, 386 to 26 in favour
- Finally, in 2020, there was an e-petition in favour of repealing the HS2 legislation that gained 155,253 signitatures, but this didn’t matter as their was strong parliamentary support for its constructions
What is one unsuccessful UK pressure group campaign?
Stop the war coalition
- Stop the war coalition was founded in 2001 in response to Blair’s gov being prepared to invade Iraq
- In which 1 million people marched through London to protest the war
- However, Blair remained ideologically committed to the invasion and had a 179 votes majority in the HOC due to his parliamentary majority
- This led to Blair being able to ignore the protests and he continued to prepare for the war
What are other groups that can influence the government?
Think Tanks, which are groups that are established to generate ideas and develop policy
What are other groups that can influence the government?
Lobbyists, which are individuals or organisations that try to persuade the gov to do something (they are usually hired by businesses or professional bodies)
What are ways in which pressure groups enhance democracy?
- They educate the public about important political issues
- They can promote and protect the interests and rights of minority groups
- They help to disperse power and influence more widely
- They help to call the gov to account by publicising the effects of policy
What are ways in which pressure groups may threaten democracy?
- Some influential pressure groups may distort info in their own interests
- Some pressure groups that are internally undemocratic may not accurately represent the views of their members and supporters
- Some pressure groups that are wealthy may wield a disproportionate amount of influence
What is a participation crisis?
A participation crisis is when a large proportion of the population don’t engage with the political process, for example, not voting in elections
What is a type of participation?
Non traditional participation, which is casual in its planning and requires limited planning
What is a type of participation?
Traditional participation, which is more structured and requires more decision making
What are some examples of traditional participation?
- Voting
- Standing for public office
- Active party membership
What are some examples of non-traditional participation?
- Passive party of Group membership
- Digital activists
What are some key milestones in the widening of the franchise?
The Great Reform Act, 1832
- Created a standard qualification for franchise that applied to all male householders living in properties
- Increased enfranchisement to over a million
What are some key milestones in the widening of the franchise?
Representation of the People Act 1918
- Gave the vote to all men over 21 regardless of if they owned property
- Gave the vote to women over 30 who met a property qualification, or whose husband did
What are some key milestones in the widening of the franchise?
Representation of the People Act 1928
- All adults over the age of 21 could vote
What are some key milestones in the widening of the franchise?
Representation of the People Act 1969
- Reduced the voting age to 18
What are arguments in favour of votes for 16?
- Young people are now better informed about politics than ever before
- May encourage more people to vote and become engaged with politics
- The radicalism of the young could act as a useful balance to the extreme conservatism of the elderly voters
What are arguments against votes for 16?
- 16 and 17 year olds are too young to be able to make rational judgements
- Many issues are too complex for younger people to understand
- Some young people can be prone to be excessively radical as they don’t have enough experience to consider issues carefully
What are advantages of compulsory voting?
- There will be greater democratic legitimacy to parties which would increase turnout
- It makes sure that all sections of society are involved
- It would force voters to make themselves more informed about political issues
What are the disadvantages of compulsory voting?
- It is a civil liberties violation
- There will be ill-informed participation as many voters are not well informed
- It would involve large amounts of public expenditure to administer and enforce the system
What are some key case studies to do with the judiciary and the protection of human rights?
Lee vs Ashers Baking Company(2018)
- The supreme court ruled that the baker had the right to refuse to bake a cake that had iced onto it “support gay marriage”
- The baker viewed it as non discriminatory as they were asked to produce a political slogan that they disagreed with
- This case illustrates the conflict between individual and collective rights
- The judiciary were effective in protecting individual rights and resolving conflict
What are some key case studies to do with the judiciary and the protection of human rights?
2004 Belmarsh prison case
- Foreign nationals were held in prison as they were suspected of terrorist activities in their home country
- The judiciary were ineffective as the HRA that was put in place can be suspended or repealed, so legislation can still be enacted
- So, after the release of the Belmarsh detainees, legislation was quickly introduced to keep them under surveillance
What are some key case studies to do with the judiciary?
Ruling on lawfulness of the Rwanda policy
- On 15 November 2023, the UK’s supreme court declared the policy unlawful as rwanda was not a safe country to remove asylum seekers to
- The judiciary was effective in that they halted gov plans which meant that the policy was no longer implemented
(However, they were ineffective in that the gov started looking for ways to work around it by considering an emergency bill to declare rwanda as a safe country
What examples of pressure groups are there?
- Liberty
- Amnesty international
What do the pressure group Liberty do?
- provide free legal advice
- Campaign to expose and bring attention to rights abuses
- Advocate for policy changes to gov
What is a time where the pressure group Liberty was effective?
- Liberty represented John Walker in a legal challenge to a loophole in the Equality act
- It let employers exempt same-sex spouses from spousal pension benefits
- John found that if his husband had been married to a woman, she would have received around £45,000
- In july 2017, the supreme court found the loophole unlawful
What do Amnesty International do?
- Investigate and expose abuses
- Mobilise the public
- lobby gov for policy changes
What is a time where the pressure group Amnesty International have been effective?
- They lobbied for the continued pressure on the gov which contributed to the release of Nazanin Zhagari-Radcliffe
- She was an Iranian woman who had been wrongfully imprisoned in Iran and was safely returned back to the UK
