Nature Of Deomcracy Flashcards
What is democracy
A system where power is held by ‘the people’
what is direct democarcy
a system where the people are able to make decisions directly on an issue usually in a yes no response
what is a representative democracy
A system where the people elected a person or group of people to represent their interests and make decision on their behalf.
problems with direct
EU turnout was 72% of the population, 52% voted leave, the government is making decisions on 38% of the population not the entire nation.
what are the forms of democracy
Liberal democracy - the right to vote will be widespread and representatives will act in their interests of everyone in society
Majoritarian democracy - the will or desires of the majority of the population are the prime considerations of the government
parliamentary democracy - parliament is sovereign, the executive branch will be drawn from and accountable to the people representatives in parliament
Presidential democracy - the executive will be elected separately form the legislative body and is therefore chosen and directly accountable to the people
direct
representative
whta is Purdah
A phrase used to describe the period of time before an election or vote where members of local councils or government are not allowed to make any new statements or proposals that could affect the way in which people vote
usually 4 to 6 weeks.
Turnout from 2001 to 2019 general election
2001 59% 2005 61 2010 65 2015 66 2017 69 2019 67
uk elections 2016
local council 34% Scottish parliament 55% Welsh ass 45% London mayor 46% police and crime 27% northern Irish assembly 45%
flaws in FPTP
Wasted votes - any votes cast for a candidate who does not win in an constituency play no role in the selection of representatives in parliament
safe seats - some constituency’s elect a candidate from the same party in every election, the level of support required to win the constituency is so high that voters see no point.
unrepresentative UKIP won 13% of the votes only 1 seat in 2015 however SNP gained 56 seats with only 2%
Winner’s bonus - the system exaggerates the amount of seats which the leading party gets from votes
Discriminates against parties with widespread support
Minority constituencies the person who wins the seat may not gained 50% + 1 of the votes, could only be 25% but that’s the most for the seat.
Two-Party system - usually only 2 candidates have a chance of winning the rest are fucked
who was the suffragette who ran in front of the kings horse
Emily Davidson.
who cannot vote in the UK
Prisoners, mentally incapable or non UK citizens.
