Participation and Democracy case studies

Question 1

1997 GE

Answer 1

• Blair= 43.2%= 418 seats
• Major= 30.7%
• TO= 71.3%

Question 2

2010 GE

Answer 2

• Cameron= 36.1%
• Brown= 29%
• Clegg= 23%
• TO= 65.1%
• LD won 56 seats
• 363 seats combined

Question 3

2015 GE

Answer 3

• Cameron= 36.9%= 330 seats
• Miliband= 30.4%
• TO= 66.4%

Question 4

2017 GE

Answer 4

• May= 42.3%= 317 seats
• Corbyn= 40%
• TO= 67.3%

Question 5

2024 GE

Answer 5

• Starmer= 33.7%= 411 seats
• Sunak= 23.7%
• TO= 59.8%

Question 6

2016 BREXIT ref

Answer 6

• leave= 52%
• TO= 72.2%
• 76% MPs were remain

Question 7

1998 Good Friday Agreement

Answer 7

• YES= 71%
• TO= 81%

Question 8

2005 Edinburgh congestion charge

Answer 8

• NO= 74.4%
• TO= 61.7%

Question 9

1997 Welsh devolution ref

Answer 9

• YES= 50.3%
• NO= 49.7%
• TO= 50.1

Question 10

adv refs

Answer 10

• if politicians can’t agree= more power to public to unite disagreements
• helps educate public on important issues
• makes gov listen to party and the ppl e.g. 2014 Scot ind ref

Question 11

disadv refs

Answer 11

• promote tyranny of majority
• may lead to ill-informed decisions
• lead to divisions within parties and countries

Question 12

pressure groups

Answer 12

• controversial techniques of outsiders
  = 2009 PETA dressed as KKK at crufts
• connections
  = NFU work w gov to get nursery workers extended tax exemption
• celeb endorsements
  = Joanna Lumley for Gurkha Justice campaign
  = petition was signed by over 250,000 ppl
  = gov granted equal rights of residency to all Gurkhas
• rich PGs are closer to decision making bodies
  = devolution of decision-making powers has meant groups like Friends of the Earth and ASH run offices in Edinburgh and Cardiff
• social media platform
  = national trust has 939.6K followers on twitter
• political bias of gov determines PG success
  = Taxpayer’s Allowance= influential to Tory gov
  = represents big cooperations and businesses

Question 13

think tanks

Answer 13

• depends on party in power
  = LD Institute for Public Policy was active during 2010 coalition but less power after
• TTs work BTS to influence party decisions
  = Adam Smith Institute had power over Truss’ mini budget due to their campaigns

Question 14

lobbyists

Answer 14

• new laws decrease their power
  = Lobbying Act 2014 created a mandatory register for lobbyists who are paid to influence the government or Members of Parliament (MPs) on behalf of third parties
  = Darryn McCarthy, the managing director of Camarillo Ltd, was the first to publicly register as a lobbyist under the 2014 Lobbying Act
• Tory MP Scott Benton= lobbied gambling industry in return to change laws
  = lack of transparency
• former MPs can be lobbyists
  = direct access to gov
  = former MP Kris Hopkins used his adv to lobby MPs over tech for Hawei company
• According to the House of Commons Code of Conduct = former MPs who leave office are subject to a two-year ban on lobbying for commercial purposes
  = means they can’t lobby on behalf of client to influence decisions made by their former colleagues for two years after leaving office

Question 15

tactics of PGs

Answer 15

• celeb endorsement
  = 2008 Gurkha Justice Society endorsed Joanna Lumley
• protests and strikes
  = 2000s LGBTQ+ protests of PGs like Stonewall= led to Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
• social media attention
  = Greenpeace has over 700,000 Twitter followers
• e-petitions
  = 2016, NHS Support Federation made e petition to prevent privatisation of NHS= signed by over 700,000 ppl
  = open debate on the topic in Parliament

Question 16

We have democracy= don’t need reform

Answer 16

• FPTP delivers stable gov= Boris 2019 80 seat majority
• 1949 Parl Act= HOL only veto upto 2 years and 1999 HOL Act= 92 HPs and 644 LPs in 2023
• steady rates of participation in elections= 1997 GE= 71%

Question 17

We need democratic reform

Answer 17

• 2010 coalition= LB and C won 363 combined seats
• unrepresentative= 2017 GE UKIP win 12.6% vote, 1 seat
• HOL unelected body= still 92 HPs and 805 members
  = only 29% are women= unrepresentative
  = 2006 cash for peerages scandal= lord David Garrad gave money to Labour Party
• increased apathy= 2024 GE TO= 59.8% and 2011 AV ref TO
  = 42% and 2010= only 43% 18-24yrs voted

Question 18

There is participation crisis

Answer 18

• partisan dealignment= 2015, only 30% said they were a ‘strong supporter’ of a party
  = 1950= 3 mil tory party members vs 2010= 150,000
  = lack of trust for parties= Michael Gove said “getting out of the EU can be quick and easy”= 3 years later the UK is still no closer to leaving= cause of less participation
• FPTP is unrepresentative= 2015 GE UKIP won 12.6% vote share and 1 seat only= led to low GE TO= 2024, 59.8% vs 71% in 1997= 85% safe seats don’t change in Gas
• less engagement of young ppl= 2015 GE, only 43% 18-24yrs voted= feel their needs aren’t met by parties= disconnected w politics
  party disillusionment of scandals etc and less education on importance of their vote

Question 19

There isn’t participation crisis

Answer 19

• Non-party memberships more popular= National trust have 350,000 members= close to the current Labour Party membership numbers and 1 in 10 adults joined environmental PG
• high e-petition engagement since 2006= 2015, 450,000 ppl signed to increase housing etc for refugee migrants and also 2009 Gurkha Justice Society got 200,000 signatures
• high participation in refs= direct democracy= feel more control= 2019 Brexit ref= 72.2% TO and 2014 Scott Ind ref= 75% 16-17yrs voted and 95% wld vote again

Question 20

adv of opinion polls

Answer 20

• in a close contest, can improve turnout= display there is a need to vote to ensure that your candidate wins
• they mislead and do not give an accurate reflection of the voting preferences across the UK
• 2017 polls weren’t all wrong as they still reflected changing opinions during the campaigns
• opinion polls are part of the free media and are integral to a healthy representative democracy= they can ask and survey who they wish= they can ask and survey who they wish

Question 21

disadv of opinion polls

Answer 21

• they can ‘deflate turnout if they show a party way ahead’
  = voters feel that the outcome is already decided so their vote will have little impact
• they mislead and do not give an accurate reflection of the voting preferences across the UK
• polls are carried out by many different organisations meaning results cannot all accurately predict the same outcome. This could cause some people to be mislead by the inaccurate predictions of one specific poll. For example, in 2017 Survation predicted that the Conservatives would win by just one point
• can ‘influence the demand to call a general election’
  = Parties can be inaccurately informed that their popularity has increased= causing them to cause an election which they ultimately lose= can negatively impact political parties as they allow their predictions to impact their agenda
  = 2017 opinion polls showed a surge of support for May, following her embrace of Brexit

Question 22

opinion poll stats

Answer 22

• 2015 general election polls were predicting a coalition between 2 major parties= encouraged voter TO as many did not want hung parliament= TO was 66.4%
• after 1979 landslide, polls projected another Labour victory
  = Gallup survey gave Labour 16 point lead, whilst the Times poll gave Labour a 15 point lead = 2001 election TO only 59%
• Polls were inaccurate in 2017= Tory lead varying between 5-12%= would’ve resulted in Tory majority. However, Tories had minority of only 317
• IPOs accurately predicted a Tory win with 44% in 2017