Glossary - Chapter 1 Democracy and Participation Flashcards
What is legitimacy?
The rightful use of power in accordance to the right to rule after election, based on agreed rules.
What is a representative?
A politician that the public elect in order to represent their interests.
What is Accountability?
The idea that representatives will be responsible for their policies, decisions and general conduct.
What are constituents?
Ordinary voters who elect a representative based in a certain geographical area.
What is social representation?
Where characterisitcs of representative bodies are proportional to wider society in typically ethnic or religious terms.
What is an action in the national interest?
An action that isn’t necessary popular but will be best for the nation as a whole, which MPs can prioritise over constituents.
What is redress of grievances?
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.
What is causal representation?
When representative bodies are not representing individuals but ideas, principles and causes.
What is decentralisation?
The process of handing power from the centre to the devolved governments.
What is a pluralist democracy?
Where decisions in government are made as a result of various ideas and contrasting arguments from groups.
What is civil society?
The name for all associations to which citizens belong acting as a counterbalance to central government.
What is liberal democracy?
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.
What is universal suffrage?
The idea that all adults should be given the right to vote regardless of gender, race etc.
What is the secret ballot?
Where voting is done in private and away from the public eye.
What is ballot rigging?
Fixing an election to achieve a certain outcome by adding ballots or losing or miscounting ballots.
What is an E-democracy?
A democracy where elections are done online.
What were the suffragettes?
Women who campaigned for suffrage through more extreme actions like hunger strikes.
What were the suffragists?
Women campaigning for suffrage through petition or peaceful protest.
What is a causal group?
An association whose goal is to promote a particular set of beliefs to pass favourable legislation.
What is a sectional group?
A group of identifiable membership, mainly concerned with their own interests.
What is a promotional group?
A form of pressure group promoting a cause or issue.
What is democratic deficit?
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.
What is direct democracy?
Where individuals express their opinions themselves and not representatives (referendums for example).
What is representative democracy?
Where people elect officials to represent their interests for them.
What is an elective dictatorship?
A government that dominates parliament usually with a large majority and with few limits on its power.
What is franchise/suffrage?
The right to vote in public elections.
What is a lobbyist?
A person paid by clients to influence the government and or MPs particularly in legislation.
What is a participation crisis?
A lack of engagement with the political system by choosing not to vote or become members of parties.
What is a think tank?
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.
What are civil liberties?
The rights and freedoms enjoyed by citizens protecting them from unfair treatment by the government normally enshrined in the constitution.
What are civil rights?
Rights and freedoms protected by the government, meaning that the government must actively protect them.
What is common law?
Traditional conceptions of how legal disputes should be settled, established as legal precedent by judges.
What is formal equality?
Equality legally established and enshrined in constitutional/common law.
What were the Troubles?
Sectarian violence in Northern Ireland from the 1960s to the Good Friday Agreement 1998 between the British Armed Forces, Royal Ulster Constabulary and IRA.
What are collective rights?
Rights designed to protect groups from unfair treatment.
What are individual rights?
Rights that directly impact an individual, designed to protect them from abuse of power.
What are polls?
They are another term for elections, where people decide representatives to represent their interests normally in a certain geographical area.
What are insider groups?
Groups with access to the government to promote a certain cause.
What is an outsider group?
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.
What is tyranny of the majority?
Where the majority vote imposes their will on the minority, even when in the wrong.
