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A level politics > Democracy and participation - unit 1 > Flashcards

Democracy and participation - unit 1 Flashcards

1
Q

Democracy

A

The ‘rule of the people’ based on 2 core principles:
- Political participation - key political decision
- Political equality - each citizen has the right to a voice and a vote

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2
Q

Direct Democracy

A
  • Individuals express with their opinions themselves, not through people acting on their behalf (such as MPs)
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3
Q

Advantages of direct democracy

A
  • Purest form of democracy
  • Can avoid delay/deadlock
  • Greater legitimacy and authority
  • Decisions made by the people - difficult for future gov to control
  • Educates people on political issues
  • Elected reps
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4
Q

Disadvantages of direct democracy

A
  • Tyranny of the majority
  • Swayed emotionally
  • Complex issues
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5
Q

Representative democracy

A

People vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives - elected by a group of people

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6
Q

Forms of representation

A
  • Social rep - characteristics of the pop
  • Causal rep - issues they care about, community, not partic group
  • Constituency rep - elect a rep
  • Party rep - modern democracy characterised by politic party
  • National interest - cmon
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7
Q

Advantages of representative democracy

A
  • Can develop expertise to deal with matters the public doesn’t have time/knowledge to deal with
  • Can be held to account in elections
  • They have the time to deal with complex matters
  • A practical way to translate the public opinion into political action
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8
Q

Disadvantages of representative democracy

A
  • May not act in best interests
  • Can be difficult to hold them into account
  • Public may disengage from social issues
  • Unrepresentative, can ignore the needs of minorities
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9
Q

Strengths of elections in the UK

A
  • Free and fair
  • Allows all choice, multiple parties
    -Devolved governments, proportional rep, constituencies rep
  • Keeps out extremist parties
  • Benchmark 1
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10
Q

Weaknesses of elections in the UK

A
  • Bad turnout - 2019 general election - 67.3%, 1950 - 83.9%
  • FPTP - unpresentative - wasted votes
    Lib Dems - 2017, 2.4M votes, scattered across the country, 1.8% seats - 12 seats - 68% of votes wasted
  • Safe seats - seats guaranteed for a party - ‘electoral desert’
    Horsham has been conservative since 1880 - making it the longest held conservative seat
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11
Q

Potential reforms

A
  • Introduce state party funding - removes need for money, mps focus on main jobs but removes connection and question where alloctaed
  • Replace the HOL with an elected chamber - removes unelected, unaccountable, may cause greater rivalry - experience replaced with career politicians
  • Codify the UK Constitution - clarifies processes, so no flexibility but too rigid, too many q
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12
Q

Votes at 16?

A

Positives - higher turnout, no longer older majority cohort, may be more informed - social media, we can serve in the army and get married SURELY

Negatives - may lack ability and motivation to participate in electoral process, excessively radical, complex issues

Overall judgement - yes, more representation
Look at revision work

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13
Q

Compulsory voting?

A

Positives - higher turnout and democratic response, more rep if all sectors vote, policies must ensure they address all parts of society, civil duty

Negative - may vote for the sake of voting - not moral judgement, favours larger parties

Overall judgement - no, not fair anymore

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14
Q

Digital voting?

A

Positives - easier for people to vote, can help communities who are geographically viable, quicker - justice and bills made earlier

Negatives - Older may not understand, faulty connections, false elections from hacking - cyber attacks

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15
Q

What is a pressure group?

A

A membership based organisation whose aim is to influence policy making without seeking power, through pressure

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16
Q

Types of pressure groups

A

Sectional groups - represent a particular section of society, limited membership, motivated by self interest
EG National Union of Teachers

Promotional groups - based on shared attitudes or values, rather than common interests of its members - altruistic concerns
EG Amnesty International, Friends of the Earth

Insider groups - close links with the government - early stages of law making and policies, employs profesh lobbyists
EG National Farmer’s Union

Outsider groups are the opposite - such as Greenpeace

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17
Q

Extinction Rebellion case study

A
  • Non violent , mass participation, civil disobedience that is extremely disruptive
    Gluing themselves to doors, blocking the roads, and key bridges during rush hour by laying in them, going underneath and chaining themselves to trucks

To push the gov to take action to avoid tipping points in climate change, biodiversity loss and societal and ecologival collapse

Wants to achieve Net 0 by 2023, Public attention and initiate a climate emergency but often alienates the public and often requires large physical exertion

18
Q

Oxfam case study

A

Main aims - gender justice and the rights of women and girls, climate justice, accountability and sustainability, and gradually eradicate poverty - they are insider and promotional

They work with communities, lobby, campaign globally, and as shops, receiving donations of clothes, homeware, music etc to sell which raises money to fund the charity

19
Q

PG Method - Lobbying

A

Insiders who are listened to by decision makers will sit on policy committees locally, nationally, inter, they seek to foster relationships with councillors for mayoral offices to help provide opportunities to lobby for power

EG -David Cameron lobbying for Greensill once he’d left office and, in 2018, become a paid adviser to the firm.

Text messages sent to Chancellor Rishi, making the case for Greensill to be part of a key coronavirus business lending scheme. Although Cameron’s pleas were ultimately rejected by the Treasury, Sunak told the former Conservative leader he had “pushed” officials to consider the proposal.

Cameron acknowledged he had learned “important lessons” from the row and say he should have engaged Sunak “through only the most formal of channels” to ensure “no room for misinterpretation.” Yet Cameron also pointed out he was “breaking no codes of conduct and no government rules.”

20
Q

PG Method - public campaigning

A

Public demonstrations of support to convince the gov to listen, mass demon, e-petitions, celebrities

EG Age UK using elderly lonliness - billboard, Emma Stone joining protest against loosening gun safety laws 2017, UN Climate change ambassador Leonardo Di Caprio

21
Q

PG Method - Working with MPs and political parties

A

Financial grants to influence policy - mainly conservative
to the Confederation of British industry

Trade Unions finance Labour Party such as the CWU - Communication Worker’s union in post and telecommunications

22
Q

PG Method - Media Campaigns
PG Method - Use of illegal methods

A

Press, TV, radio campaigns
EG Marcus Rashford - free school meals

Civil disobedience
EG Greenpeace destroyed genetically modified crops to publicise
Plane Stupid disrupted flights

23
Q

PG Method - Court

A

Requests a judicial review if it feels government or a state body has acted on the contrary to the rule of law

EG Plane Stupid asked a senior high court judge for a judiciary review on the building of a new railway
Liberty sued Swella Braverman for anti-protest laws

24
Q

Factors of pressure groups

A
  • Size
  • Finance
  • Inside status
  • Public support
  • Opposition
25
Q

Ways in which PGs enhance democracy

A
  • Helps to disperse power and influence more widely (enables pluralism)
  • Educates people on important issues (WWF)
  • Gives people the opportunity to participate in politics without sacrificing time and attention
  • Can promote and protect the interests of minorities (Stonewall - gay marriage)
  • Helps call the government to account by publicising the effects of policy via freedom of expression - isn’t institutionally whipped
26
Q

Ways in which PGs threaten democracy

A
  • Some are elitist and tend to concentrate power in too few hands EG CBI
  • May distort information in their own interests - Republic distorting queen’s opinion on Brexit
  • If internally undemocratic may not accurately represent the views of members and supporters
  • Finance is a key factor in political influence - wealthy groups may hold a disproportionate amount of influence
  • Civil disobedience can undermine the freedom and rights of other citizens and overshadow their messages
27
Q

Think tanks

A
  • Public policy research organisations - carries out research and develops policy ideas that can then be adopted by political parties - can see pressing issues

EG Education, healthcare, social justice

  • Funded by endowments and public donations - these are shadowed and unaccountable, considered and developed away from public scrutiny
  • Saves party time and resources
  • Left wing - Fabian Society
  • Right Wing - The Institute of Economic affairs
    Liz Truss - elected by 0.1% of the general population, free market fundamentalism, dinner ‘off the books’ - Tufton Street Network
27
Q

Lobbyists

A

Distinct organisations/individuals that sell expert knowledge of the political process, not reliable, questions the role of a politician
EG Cicero Group, Frederick Michel - finance, infrastructure, energy and transport

  • Employ people with close relationships with those in power (selling insider status) - given a ‘map’ to achieve goals with steps to follow and arranges meetings with those clients
  • Can improve legislation with possibly missed perspectives however only benefits those with money
28
Q

Corporations

A

Large corporations count as PGs - employ a large number of people to strategically have a large role in the economy (seek to emphasise this)

Resist proposed legislation that may hinder their operations, but can only play a role in certain sectors
Great insider status, effectively have their own ‘in house’ think tanks and lobbyists however have resisted paying tax on their profits (Starbucks, Google, Microsoft)

29
Q

What are human rights?

A

The basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world, from birth till death regardless of where you’re from, what you believe or how you choose to live your life

29
Q

What are civil liberties?

A

Basic rights and freedoms granted to citizens of a country through national common or statute law - they are contextual

30
Q

Evidence (3) of Human right acts in the UK

A
  • Human Rights Act 1998 - incorporates into domestic law the rights and liberties enshrined in the ECHR
  • Freedom of Information Act 2000 - allows the public to access gov info - if the release of the information does not risk public safety - the government has to allow access to it
  • Equality Act 2010 - Brought 116 separate pieces of legislation into a new streamlined legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality
31
Q

Protection of rights in the UK - Amnesty 1961, 200,000 members

A
  • Their aim is to protest for people - wherever they believe their rights and freedoms have been denied to expose and end abuses, and educate society to be safer

Do this by organising petitions, public dem, extensive reports and publications, court

EG ‘Write for Rights’ - helped a number of people to be released from prison and had their rights restored - 5th July, 2022, Joanah Mamombe and Cecillia Chimbiri were free from their abduction and torture after leading an anti gov campaign in Zimbabwe, acquitted by the High Court after half a million letters

32
Q

clashes of individual rights and collective rights

A

Right to privacy v Collective right of press to report on matters of public interest

32
Q

Issues of clashes between individual rights and collective rights

A

Muslim case - need to find

33
Q

Strength of UK rights - Strong traditions particularly in common law

A
  • Murder, manslaughter and common assault are illegal due to the precedent of common law - has been the case for hundreds of years - repeatidly reinforced by judges - impossible for politicians to change
34
Q

Weakness of UK rights - Parliament is sovereign

A
  • Can pass laws infringing civil liberties
  • Legislation from the past 20 years has undermined citizen rights in the UK in the name of public order and counteracting terrorism
  • Public Order Act 2023 accused of limiting citizen rights to limiting public protest and increase public police power at the expense of freedom of expression
35
Q

Strength of UK rights - UK signed to ECHR

A
  • Signed to the European convention on Human rights and will be continued to be signed even after leaving the UK
  • Contains a number of fundamental human rights within it, including the right to a fair trial

resulted in breakthroughs in civil rights within the UK
EG Homosexuality becoming legal in Northern Ireland in 1981

36
Q

Weakness of UK rights - Parliament can ignore ECHR

A
  • Can ignore ECHR and even repeal the HRA (Human Rights Act)
  • Conservatives have included removing this in one of their manifesto for the last few elections
  • Weakens integrity
37
Q

Strength of UK rights - Judiciary is independent

A

And separate from Parliament and politics
- UK ranked 15/140 in the Rule of Law, with a Rule of Law index score of 0.79 in 2022
- Judiciary is protected in a number of ways in the UK such as having security of tenure (can’t be fired) as well as being theoretically uncritisized in politics

38
Q

Weakness of UK rights - aftermath of Brexit vote

A
  • This led to judges being attacked and their position politicised
  • Supreme Court limited the ability of the PM, Theresa May to exit the EU without putting a vote through Parliament - as a result, newspapers attacked the judges - calling them ‘enemies of the people’

Leading politicians didn’t defend the judges, to protect their neutrality

A level politics (32 decks)

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