represenative and direct democracy Flashcards
what is democracy
‘rule of the people’
the right to free and fair vote
all votes carry the same weight
majority rule
what is direct democracy and where has it been seen before
where the people directly make the key decisions by themselves
Citizens in Ancient Athens were entitled to vote on every matter affecting them. This isnt possible in modern democracy because of such large societies
Eg Referendum
example of two referendums
2016 brexit - 51.9% leave, 48.1% stay, 72.2% turnout
Good Friday Agreement - 71% agreed, 29% disagreed, 82% turnout
what did labour do to get the public more involved
there were 4 major referendums in the 70s, then 2 decades go past
The Labour gov hold 5 referendums and explored other ways of getting citizens directly involved in decision making such as citizen juries
There was a decrease in turnouts because people felt disconnected to politics so this increase in referendums was a reaction to that
positives to direct democracy
-peoples voices heard clearly, so more legitimate
-politicians influenced by self interest have less influence
-educating people on the policies they are voting for so people are more politically aware
-avoids the delay of debate from parliament, quick and direct
negatives to direct democracy
-ignores the interests of the minority so they are constantly overlooked
-no guarantee for a large turnout
-some issues are too complex for people to understand
-people are easily persuaded or influences by other peole online
what is representaive democracy
sometimes known as indirect dem, where people choose a rep to make decisions and vote on their behalf. They are chosen through regular and fair and competitive elections
they should rep the constituents needs because if they dont they wont be voted in again
advantages to representative democracy
- decisions are left in the hands of people who are ecperts in the field and can understand policy in better detail
- reps dont tend to be swayed by emotion because they work rationally which is more efficient
- they can easily mediate between people’s views so they can represent more voices
- accountable to th oublic for all decisions and actions
negatives to rep democracy
- reps decisions can be influenced by party interests and career politicians
- not all groups are equally represented within a party eg women/ethnic groups
- creates a delay for debate and discussion; policy has a long process
- can be argued that reps are disconnected from their cons eg. a very poor areas with a very wealthy MP
when are both direct and rep democracy are used
the 2015 recall of the mps act:
This allows a petition to be triggered if an MP is sentenced to be imprisoned or is suspended from the house of commons for more than 10 sitting days. If 10% of eligible voters in the con they rep sign a petition, a by-elections is called. Therefore direct democracy is used to hold reps accountable
EG Christopher Davies, Con MP who was convicted for providing false expense claims; 18/9% signed the petition and he was replaced by a lib dem
similarities between direct and rep
1.People are sought after to have their opinions expressed.
2.Legislature that represents their views.
3.Initiatives, petitions, public consultations etc happen all the time within representative democracies in order for the gov. to represent the people e.g. following ‘let’s talk Newcastle’ the council decided the budget not the people they simply kept in mind what was said during the consultations.
4.Pressure groups etc who use direct democracy to put forward their views are an integral part of representative democracy - e.g. many of the Conservative’s economic policies are guided by the BBA but they work very much as a representative democracy.
differences between direct and rep dem
1.People make decisions (e.g. through a referendum) instead of through elected or appointed bodies.
2.Government held accountable.
3.Direct democracy is majoritarian - working on the will of the majority - risk of tyranny of the majority
.4.Parliament is sovereign whereas in direct it is subservient to the people if it likes it or not - it’s power is greatly weakened by direct democracy e.g. Bill of Rights taken out of Queen’s Speech - delayed possibly for up to a year - due to oppisition in part from Liberty campaign and petitions e.g. Change.org’s petition against the Bill 230,000 people signed.
5.More likely to result in rational decision - direct often works with emotions e.g. AV referendum negative vote after Lib Dems went back on their promise on tuition fees.
6.Handles complex and technical political decisions - this isn’t practical for direct democracy e.g. AV low turnout and negative vote partly due to complexity; Scottish Referendum lead up lasted months because people needed to be educated on the political, economic, and social implications.
what are the types of representation
social rep
national issues rep
constituency rep
party rep
functional rep
social representation
the characteristics of representatives should be mostly in line with populations eg close to half the amount of women but this is difficult in parl and the % of women in parl has never been higher than 30%
representing national interest
despite being elected by a local con, mps are expected to rep the nation as a whole
however this can clash with local interests
eg MP Zac goldwin protesting against the 3rd runway at Heathrow airport because it effects his cons despite it being somewhat beneficial to the UK economy
