Glossary - Chapter 1 Democracy and Participation

Question 1

What is legitimacy?

Answer 1

The rightful use of power in accordance to the right to rule after election, based on agreed rules.

Question 1

What is a representative?

Answer 1

A politician that the public elect in order to represent their interests.

Question 2

What is Accountability?

Answer 2

The idea that representatives will be responsible for their policies, decisions and general conduct.

Question 3

What are constituents?

Answer 3

Ordinary voters who elect a representative based in a certain geographical area.

Question 4

What is social representation?

Answer 4

Where characterisitcs of representative bodies are proportional to wider society in typically ethnic or religious terms.

Question 5

What is an action in the national interest?

Answer 5

An action that isn’t necessary popular but will be best for the nation as a whole, which MPs can prioritise over constituents.

Question 6

What is redress of grievances?

Answer 6

A tradition of the Commons where an MP represents the grievance of a constituent usually claiming unfair treatment. Other MPs may be lobbied to raise this in the Commons.

Question 7

What is causal representation?

Answer 7

When representative bodies are not representing individuals but ideas, principles and causes.

Question 8

What is decentralisation?

Answer 8

The process of handing power from the centre to the devolved governments.

Question 9

What is a pluralist democracy?

Answer 9

Where decisions in government are made as a result of various ideas and contrasting arguments from groups.

Question 10

What is civil society?

Answer 10

The name for all associations to which citizens belong acting as a counterbalance to central government.

Question 11

What is liberal democracy?

Answer 11

A system of government which accepts majority rule through elections and focuses on individual rights that cannot be easily removed which are defined in a constitution.

Question 12

What is universal suffrage?

Answer 12

The idea that all adults should be given the right to vote regardless of gender, race etc.

Question 13

What is the secret ballot?

Answer 13

Where voting is done in private and away from the public eye.

Question 14

What is ballot rigging?

Answer 14

Fixing an election to achieve a certain outcome by adding ballots or losing or miscounting ballots.

Question 15

What is an E-democracy?

Answer 15

A democracy where elections are done online.

Question 16

What were the suffragettes?

Answer 16

Women who campaigned for suffrage through more extreme actions like hunger strikes.

Question 17

What were the suffragists?

Answer 17

Women campaigning for suffrage through petition or peaceful protest.

Question 18

What is a causal group?

Answer 18

An association whose goal is to promote a particular set of beliefs to pass favourable legislation.

Question 19

What is a sectional group?

Answer 19

A group of identifiable membership, mainly concerned with their own interests.

Question 20

What is a promotional group?

Answer 20

A form of pressure group promoting a cause or issue.

Question 21

What is democratic deficit?

Answer 21

A flaw in the democratic process where decisions are made by those who lack legitimacy due to not having been appointed with a sufficient democratic mandate or being subject to accountability.

Question 22

What is direct democracy?

Answer 22

Where individuals express their opinions themselves and not representatives (referendums for example).

Question 23

What is representative democracy?

Answer 23

Where people elect officials to represent their interests for them.

Question 24

What is an elective dictatorship?

Answer 24

A government that dominates parliament usually with a large majority and with few limits on its power.

Question 25

What is franchise/suffrage?

Answer 25

The right to vote in public elections.

Question 26

What is a lobbyist?

Answer 26

A person paid by clients to influence the government and or MPs particularly in legislation.

Question 27

What is a participation crisis?

Answer 27

A lack of engagement with the political system by choosing not to vote or become members of parties.

Question 28

What is a think tank?

Answer 28

A body of experts paid for by the government to collectively focus on a certain topic to investigate and offer solutions to complicated political, social or economic problems.

Question 29

What are civil liberties?

Answer 29

The rights and freedoms enjoyed by citizens protecting them from unfair treatment by the government normally enshrined in the constitution.

Question 30

What are civil rights?

Answer 30

Rights and freedoms protected by the government, meaning that the government must actively protect them.

Question 31

What is common law?

Answer 31

Traditional conceptions of how legal disputes should be settled, established as legal precedent by judges.

Question 32

What is formal equality?

Answer 32

Equality legally established and enshrined in constitutional/common law.

Question 33

What were the Troubles?

Answer 33

Sectarian violence in Northern Ireland from the 1960s to the Good Friday Agreement 1998 between the British Armed Forces, Royal Ulster Constabulary and IRA.

Question 34

What are collective rights?

Answer 34

Rights designed to protect groups from unfair treatment.

Question 35

What are individual rights?

Answer 35

Rights that directly impact an individual, designed to protect them from abuse of power.

Question 36

What are polls?

Answer 36

They are another term for elections, where people decide representatives to represent their interests normally in a certain geographical area.

Question 37

What are insider groups?

Answer 37

Groups with access to the government to promote a certain cause.

Question 38

What is an outsider group?

Answer 38

A group without access to the government that aims to pressure the government into changing policy/legislation over a certain issue or set of issues.

Question 39

What is tyranny of the majority?

Answer 39

Where the majority vote imposes their will on the minority, even when in the wrong.