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Gov & Politics > Democracy + Participation > Flashcards

Democracy + Participation Flashcards

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1
Q

Definition of democracy

A

Power held by the people

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2
Q

What is direct democracy?

A

A system where the people are able to make decisions directly on an issue, usually through a referendum

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3
Q

What is representative democracy?

A

A system where people elect others to rule on their behalf

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4
Q

What percentage of the ENTIRE population voted for Brexit?

A

37.7% - is this democratic?

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5
Q

What is liberal democracy?

A
  • The right to vote is widespread
  • Representatives act in the interest of everyone in society
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6
Q

What is majoritarian democracy?

A

The will and desires of the majority of a population should be the prime considerations of government

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7
Q

What is parliamentary democracy?

A

The system where parliament stands as the highest form of democratic authority

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8
Q

What is presidential democracy?

A

The system where the executive is directly elected and is therefore accountable to the people

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9
Q

What is pluralist democracy?

A

A system where there is competition between different groups who represent the wider society

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10
Q

3 functions of democracy

A
  1. Representation - People have their views represented in government
  2. Accountability - The people can hold the government to account through elections
  3. Legitimacy - Being chosen by the people gives a leader legitimacy
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11
Q

Advantages of direct democracy

A
  • Increased legitimacy
  • Increased participation
  • Pure form of democracy
  • Ensures public are politically educated
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12
Q

Disadvantages of direct democracy

A
  • Tyranny of the majority
  • Impractical
  • Low turnout (AV referendum?)
  • Popular choice isn’t always realistic (no taxes?!)
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13
Q

Does the UK have a strong democracy? - YES

A
  • Turnout is reasonable, always above 50%
  • Universal suffrage
  • Good choice of parties (unlike US?)
  • Parliamentary sovereignty stops tyrannical leaders
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14
Q

What is tyranny of the majority?

A

When the majority of people introduce laws which negatively impact minorities

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15
Q

Does the UK have a strong democracy? - NO

A
  • Unelected House of Lords
  • Turnout is low for most non-general elections
  • Lack of entrenched rights
  • FPTP has many issues
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16
Q

What percentage of the UK population are able to vote?

A

71.5%

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17
Q

What year did women gain the right to vote?

A

1918

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18
Q

Why did women gain the right to vote?

A
  • Suffrage movement
  • Many women had began working and paying taxes, particularly during WW1
  • With men away at war, women proved they could look after themselves (crazy!)
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19
Q

Representation of the People Act 1918

A
  • Women over 30 could now vote
  • Voting age for men lowered to 21
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20
Q

Representation of the People Act 1928

A

All people over the age of 21 could vote, no matter class or gender

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21
Q

Representation of the People Act 1969

A

Voting age lowered to 18

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22
Q

Leader of the Suffragists

A

Millicent Fawcett

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23
Q

Suffragists organisation

A

NUWSS (National Union of Womens’ Suffragist Societies)

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24
Q

Suffragettes organisation

A

WSPU (Womens Social and Political Union)

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25
Q

Number of suffragist members

A

50,000

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26
Q

Number of suffragette members

A

Between 2,000 and 5,000

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27
Q

Aim of the suffragist movement

A

To achieve the right to vote for women through
constitutional and peaceful means

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28
Q

Examples of rights 16-year-olds have

A
  • Join the army
  • Get married
  • Pay income tax and national insurance
  • Join a trade union
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29
Q

What parties want to reduce the voting age?

A

Labour and Lib Dems

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30
Q

In what year did the Scottish Parliament give 16-year-olds the right to vote?

A

2015

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31
Q

What court ruled that a blanket ban on allowing prisoners to vote is against human rights?

A

European Court of Human Rights

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32
Q

Examples of pressure groups that want to extend the franchise to prisoners

A
  • Howard League
  • Prison Reform Trust
  • Amnesty International
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33
Q

Where in the UK have some prisoners been given the right to vote?

A

Scotland, since 2020, if their sentence is less than 1 year

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34
Q

Should prisoners be given the right to vote? YES

A
  • Rehabilitation, keeps them a member of society
  • No evidence losing the right to vote deters crime
  • European Court of Human Rights ruled it as a violation
35
Q

Should prisoners be given the right to vote? NO

A
  • Those who break the law should not be able to influence law-making
  • Prisoners are highly concentrated in a few constituencies and their vote may have an actual impact
36
Q

Traditional methods of participation

A
  • Voting
  • Joining a party
  • Joining a pressure group
  • Signing petitions
  • Going on marches
37
Q

Modern methods of participation

A
  • E-petitions
  • Social media
  • Blogging
38
Q

What does the term ‘slacktivism’ mean?

A

Engaging in politics online but doing little in person to make a significant difference

39
Q

What is the lowest turnout for a UK general election?

A

59% in 2001

40
Q

Until 1992, what % was turnout usually?

A

Around 75%

41
Q

Turnout in 2010 general election

A

65%

42
Q

Turnout in 2015 general election

A

66%

43
Q

Turnout in 2017 general election

A

69%

44
Q

Turnout in 2019 general election

A

67%

45
Q

Welsh Assembly election turnout 2021

A

45%

46
Q

Scottish Parliament election turnout 2021

A

63%

47
Q

EU 2019 election turnout UK

A

37%

48
Q

What percentage of the WHOLE UK voting population actually voted Conservative in 2019?

A

30% - they have an 80 seat majority. Is this democratic?

49
Q

What are some problems with low turnout?

A
  • It increases the chances of small extremist parties to get in
  • Leads to a lack of accountability as politicians do not fear the electorate
50
Q

How many Conservative members are there?

A

180,000

51
Q

How many Labour members are there?

A

485,000

52
Q

How many Lib Dem members are there?

A

115,000

53
Q

How many SNP members are there?

A

125,000

54
Q

How many members did Labour have in the 1950s?

A

1 million

55
Q

Evidence of a participation crisis

A
  • Turnout is mid
  • Few party members
  • Weak power of trade unions
56
Q

With what % of the national vote did Labour win with their landslide 2001 majority?

A

26%

57
Q

What is corporatism?

A

Term to describe the government working closely with trade unions and businesses

58
Q

Why is the end of corporatism bad for democracy?

A

Workers are left with a much weaker to represent their needs and concerns to the government

59
Q

Evidence that there isn’t a participation crisis

A
  • Turnout increasing since 2001
  • Referendums such as Brexit and Scottish Independence attracted high turnout
  • Pressure group membership rising
60
Q

How many different political parties are represented in Parliament?

A

11

61
Q

How much did Labour set their membership fee as to try and attract new members?

A

£3

62
Q

3 aspects of human rights

A
  • Fundamental: essential part of life
  • Universal: applies to everyone
  • Absolute: cannot be compromised in any way
63
Q

What are positive rights?

A

Rights clearly given to a citizen, usually in the form of a constitutional protection

64
Q

What are negative rights?

A

Rights that are not explicitly set out and only exist as there is no law that bans them

65
Q

Until the Human Rights Act, did we have positive or negative rights?

A

Negative as they were not codified into law

66
Q

Why are positive rights stronger than negative rights?

A

They are protected in law so citizens have much greater legal protection

67
Q

Freedom of Information Act 2000

A

Gave citizens the right to access any non-security related information held by public institutions

68
Q

What changed in 2016 regarding drug usage laws?

A

Until 2016, drugs were only illegal if they had been banned by law. This created many legal highs as government legislation could not keep up.

In 2016, the government passed a law that stated that drugs were not legal unless they had been permitted by the government.

69
Q

Does the Human Rights Act effectively protect rights? - YES

A
  • Rights are now enshrined in statute law
  • Legislation must comply with the Human Rights Act
  • Citizens can access protection from UK-based courts
70
Q

Does the Human Rights Act effectively protect rights? - NO

A
  • The act is not entrenched therefore it can be replaced. The Tories have hinted at removing it
  • The act cannot overturn primary legislation in Parliament
  • The act can be ‘set aside’ by the government. This happened following 9/11 to interrogate terrorist suspects.
71
Q

Example of the Human Rights Act defending individual rights

A

In 2004, it was ruled that a law that gay partners could not inherit council flats was discriminatory

72
Q

Equality Act 2010

A

Attempted to codify all anti-discriminatory legislation into one law. Included race, gender, sexuality, etc.

73
Q

What are civic responsibilities?

A

Duties which citizens are expected to perform or abide by

74
Q

Examples of civic responsibilities

A
  • Respect the law
  • Pay taxes
  • Not causing harm to others
  • Vote
75
Q

Is the judiciary the best place to protect rights? - YES

A
  • They exercise rule of law
  • Judicial independence means they can act without political pressure
76
Q

Is the judiciary the best place to protect rights? - NO

A
  • Judges are not elected so are unaccountable
  • No codified constitution means the judiciary cannot strike down primary legislation
  • Judges are unrepresentative as they are from a narrow background
77
Q

Potential reforms to increase turnout

A
  • Compulsory voting
  • New voting system (replace FPTP)
  • Online voting
78
Q

Advantages of compulsory voting

A
  • Turnout will increase
  • People are likely to be more aware of political issues
  • Money raised from fines could be spent on greater political education
79
Q

Disadvantages of compulsory voting

A
  • Too authoritarian, reduction of freedom
  • Could increase apathy having to vote for a system you don’t like
  • Many people might vote randomly
80
Q

How would reforming the House of Lords improve democracy in the UK?

A

Brings greater legitimacy to the system

81
Q

Advantages and disadvantages of being able to vote online

A

+ More people will vote as it is easier
- Many might argue it is a system too easy to exploit

82
Q

When was the UK’s online petition system introduced?

A

2011

83
Q

How many signatures does a petition need to get a response?

A

10,000
If it gets 100,000 it will be discussed in Parliament

Gov & Politics (23 decks)

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