Topic 1: Democracy and Participation

Question 1

1. Explain and analyse 3 features of a democracy

Answer 1

1. Free and fair elections – Universal suffrage, secret ballots, and independent election monitoring (e.g., Electoral Commission in the UK).
2. Rule of law – Equality before the law, exemplified by judicial reviews challenging government actions (e.g., prorogation of Parliament in 2019).
3. Representation - mps rep their constituents views in parliament- MP Kim leadbeater repped his constituents in West Yorkshire who wanted the assisted dying bill to pass in 2024

Question 2

2. Explain and analyse 3 disadvantages of direct democracy

Answer 2

1. undermines elected representatives
2. Populist outcomes
3. Low participation rates – Risk of unrepresentative outcomes (turnout 2024 general election was 59.7%)

Question 3

3. Explain and analyse 3 reasons it could be said there is a participation crisis in the UK

Answer 3

1. Declining voter turnout – General election turnout 59.7%, almost same as 2001 (59.4%)
2. Partisan dealignment – Decline in party membership (e.g., Conservative membership in 2024 at 130k compared to over 2 million in the 1950s, and 180k in 2019).
3. Lack of youth engagement – Lower turnout among younger voters - less than half of 18-24 y/os voted

Question 4

4. Explain and analyse 3 reasons why there isn’t a participation crisis in the UK:

Answer 4

1. slacktivism - twitter - #DominicCummings - 2020 when he broke lockdown rules n forced gov officials to address the controversy publicly
2. social movements– direct action -Campaigns like Extinction Rebellion + BLM show youth engagement.
3. Growth of online petitions – E.g., over 6 million signatures for a second Brexit referendum.

Question 5

5. Explain and analyse 3 types of democracy

Answer 5

1. Direct democracy – Citizens vote directly on issues (e.g., Brexit referendum).
2. Representative democracy – Elected officials make decisions (e.g., UK Parliament).
3. Majoritarian - parliamentary sovereignty