Democracy and Participation: Suffrage Flashcards
1
Q
What is Representative Democracy?
A
The people select individuals to act on their behalf to exercise political choice and make decisions. Not really delegates, they are expected to also use their own judgments.
2
Q
What is direct democracy?
A
When individuals express their opinions and vote on laws and policies themselves and not through representatives. It’s not very practical in a large modern state.
3
Q
What is the key way that the UK uses representative democracy? Provide examples.
A
Referendums - e.g. Scottish IndyRef and the EU brexit referendum
4
Q
What country uses a lot of direct democracy?
A
Switzerland, around 10 referendums a year. Normally under 50% turnout per ref.
5
Q
How has direct democracy raised problems?
A
- Undermines parliamentary sovereignty (link to Cameron and the EU ref)
- Referendums are not legally binding.
6
Q
What is a pluralist democracy?
A
A democracy in which a government makes decisions as a result of the interplay of various ideas and contrasting arguments from competing groups and organisations. Many encourage it because it encourages all voices to be heard.
7
Q
What is legitimacy?
A
It is the legal right to exercise power. It is important because it validates the policies of those in power as legitimacy has been derived from the support of the people.
8
Q
What are the similarities of representative democracy?
A
- Both types of democracy designed to implement the will of the people based on the concept of majority rule.
- Both can be implemented at different levels of government, including local, regional and national.
- In both systems, the people can be swayed by powerful and educated individuals, including politicians and the media.
9
Q
What are the differences between direct and representative democracy?
A
- In DD, individuals express opinions themselves rather than having elected representatives
- Citizens are much more involved in decision making on a regular basis in DD.
- In RD, there are political parties.
- In RD, a government is elected which can be held to account by the people.
- There are more protections and representation for minorities in RD which avoids the complete tyranny of the majority
- RD can be seen as being able to handle complex and technical political decisions whilst DD can’t - e.g. the EU ref reduced the whole issue to just 1 question.
10
Q
What are the advantages of DD?
A
- Gives equal weight to all votes.
- Encourages participation in politics
- Removes the need for trusted reps and minimises the possibility for corruptions/the will of the people not being followed.
- Develops a sense of community and encourages genuine debate, with people feeling like they have a real state in the political system.
11
Q
What are the disadvantages of DD?
A
- Impractical in large, heavily populated states.
- Many people will not feel qualified to take part in the decision making or want to make important political decisions on a regular basis
- Open to manipulation by the cleverest and most articulate speakers.
- Minority viewpoints are disregarded, as it is a majoritarian system.
- Complex issues are often reduced significantly. The amount of answers an individual can give are reduced to yes or no.
12
Q
What are the advantages of RD?
A
- RD is the only practical system in a large country with complex problems needing rapid responses. (important in crises such as covid)
- Parties represent the public and give people a real choice of representatives (although arguably not that much of a choice - tactical voting)
- Elections allow reps to be held to account
- Politicians are (in theory) better informed than the average citizen and less likely to be swayed by emotional appeals
13
Q
What are the advantages of RD?
A
- May lead to reduced participation as responsibility is handed to politicians.
- Parties and politicians don’t necessarily represent the best interests of the people
- Minorities are still underrepresented as they don’t hold much electoral weight.
- Politicians are skilful in avoiding accountability especially are elections are infrequent.
- Politicians may put their own interests or the party’s interests above the interests of the people and betray election promises.
- In FPTP, representatives are often elected with under that 50% of the vote and therefore, it is likely that more people disagree than agree with them.
14
Q
What are the arguments that the UK IS suffering from a participation crisis?
A
- There is a low voter turnout, averaging around 68% in elections. Voter apathy.
- Party Membership has declined and now only 1.6% of the electorate belongs to a PP.
15
Q
What are the arguments that the UK is NOT suffering from a participation crisis?
A
- Referendums have had increased turnout e.g. Scottish IndyRef (84%) or the EU ref (72%)
- ‘Hapathy’ - people aren’t voting because they are happy and aren’t pushing towards change.
- Party Membership doesn’t mean people aren’t participating. UKIP had 50,000 members by the 2015 GE. Its more about when they need change and this shows they can use parties to participate if they want to.
- Pressure Groups: Climate Change, Brexit and the Iraq War, people get involved for issues they are passionate about.
- E-petitions and Media (revoke article 50 e-petition from 2019 had over 5.5M signatures)
16
Q
What are some proposed reforms to improve participation?
A
- Increase turnout by changing the day on which we vote to the weekends, or allow voters to vote anywhere in the constituency.
- Online voting/postal voting (HOWEVER risk of cyberattacks etc)
17
Q
What is a democratic deficit?
A
A perceived deficit in the way a particular democratic body works, especially in terms of accountability and control over policy-making.
18
Q
What are some positive democratic features of the UK political system?
A
- Devolved governments as well as elected mayors in major cities.
- Independent Jury
- Free media, politically neutral broadcast media and free access to the internet.
- Free, fair, and relatively regular elections
- Wide range of parties and pressure groups
19
Q
What are some arguments that the UK has a democratic deficit?
A
- FPTP - little rep for minority viewpoints in parliament. Very unrepresentative in general.
- HoL is unelected and can still exercise power and halt bills proposed by the commons
- Lack of protection for citizens’ rights.
- Control of the media by wealthy and unaccountable individuals e.g. Rupert Murdoch.
- Many members of the HoC can be seen as looking out for themselves and their careers rather than caring about representation.
20
Q
Who can vote in the UK today?
A
- All adults over 18 who are registered and allowed to vote.
- British and Irish Citizens have reciprocal rights to vote in each others’ countries.
- Commonwealth citizens are allowed to vote, as are UK nationals who have lived abroad for less than 18 years.
21
Q
Who can’t vote in UK elections?
A
- People under the age of 18
- EU citizens (except ROI), but they can vote in local elections
- Members of the HoL
- Prisoners
- Those convicted of a corrupt or illegal electoral practice, who are barred for 5 years
- People who are compulsorily detained in a psychiatric hospital
22
Q
What are the arguments for reducing the voting age to 16?
A
- 16 year olds have other legal rights, such as leaving school, starting works and joining the armed forces, so why shouldn’t they also be allowed to vote?
- They would take part in politics. They would start early and get in the habit of it. e.g. Scottish IndyRef - large 16-17 year old turnout.
- Having a say would give them a say on issues that mean a lot to them e.g. university tuition fees.
23
Q
What are the arguments against reducing the voting age to 16?
A
- They lack the necessary life experience and maturity to vote. They are still children and need better education around political issues because they would misuse their vote. (arguably the same could be said for adults)
- Some of the legal rights of 16 year olds are limited in practice. e.g. they can’t be deployed to the frontline until theyre 18, they can’t really be in full-time employment.
- Voter turnout is very low among the 18-24 age bracket so there’s little evidence that they would even want to vote.
24
Q
What is e-democracy and e-voting?
A
The terms relate to the way in which the development of social media and the internet have impacted the way in which democracy operates in the UK.
- it is often cheaper for people to express political opinions and politicians to communicate with their constituents regularly. Most MPs have an X account.
25
How are e-petitions used in UK democracy and what are some examples?
If an e-petition receives 10,000 signatures, it will get a response from the gov and if it receives 100,000 and is backed by an MP, it is considered for debate in parliament.
- the revoke article 50 e-petition, the ban ISIS members from returning to the UK petition around 600,000 signatures and was debated.
26
What are the arguments that e-democracy does enhance democracy?
- they increase political participation by bringing in people who don't have the inclination, ability or time to participate in more conventional ways such as party or pressure group memberships.
- they make a better informed electorate.
- they communicate directly between the government and the governed.
- enhances pluralism by preventing powerful, elitist groups who have concentrated power from having exclusive access to gov.
27
What are the arguments that e-democracy does not enhance democracy?
- Gives the public greater access to extremist groups, such as those that are racist and promote violence.
- Misinformation is a big problem, with lies having the ability to sway election results or referendums (e.g. Brexit Ref)
28
What are the arguments for compulsory voting?
- It encourages people to be involved and exercise their right to vote.
- It would make parliament more representative of the population as it would be more legitimate.
- Politicians would have to run their campaign with the whole electorate in mind.
- For those that say not voting is a form of participation, It would still be legal to spoil a ballot and therefore, not vote for any candidate. (as it is in Australia)
29
What are the arguments against compulsory voting?
- In a preferential voting system, where candidates are ranked, people may just put them in order as they are presented.
It is undemocratic to force people and it should be a matter of choice.
- It wouldn't stop politicians from focusing their campaigns on marginal seats and neglecting safe seats.
- It doesn't address the deeper reasons why people decide not to vote.
30
What are the arguments for prisoners having the vote?
- Voting is a fundamental right that shouldn't be removed. (Hirst V UK - people shouldn't have their right to vote removed as it is part of the ECHR and that the UK needs to justify exactly why there is this exemption to universal suffrage)
- Losing the vote is unlikely to be a deterrent to crime
- Losing the vote also removes civic responsibility from prisoners, which further alienates them from society and damages rehabilitation.
31
What are the arguments against prisoners having the vote?
- Prisoners are criminals and therefore forfeit the right to have a say in how society is run.
- Prisoners should have no say in the criminal justice system especially.
- Due to the nature of constituencies under FPTP, prison votes would have significant impact on constituencies.
