UK Democracy and participation Flashcards
What does it mean for a political system to be democratic?
Democracy means giving power to the people.
there is certain criteria which we can use to judge whether a political system is democratic or not:
- participation - does the system give all people an equal and effective opportunity to make their opinions known
- voting equality - does every member have an equal and effective opportunity to vote, where each vote is equal
- understanding - is every member given equal opportunity to learn about the decisions they can have an impact on making
- agenda setting
- universality - does every adult person have these rights
Why is democracy important?
- because it provides the basis for legitimacy
- when an individual votes for a political party, they are legitimising that party’s right to rule
- it also reinforces individual’s obligations to obey the actions of the party that has been elected, because they have implicitly invested authority in this party by voting for them. Even if an individual personally didn’t vote for the party which won, they must still respect their decisions because of the democratic process which led to the party’s victory.
- strong democratic structures underpin legitimacy by expanding the opportunities to for political participation through the right to vote, but also through political activities, such as joining pressure groups or becoming a member of a party
what is a direct democracy?
- a form of democracy in which all individuals participate in the tasks of government, without having their opinions expressed through a representative
- in a direct democracy there is popular participation
- it is direct - all the people can vote on making key policy decisions
- it is immediate - the people are the government - their is no separate class of politicians with a high power
- it is continuous - individuals can participate on a regular and ongoing basis
what are the advantages/disadvantages of direct democracy?
Advantage:
- purest form of democracy - since the people are in charge of making all government decisions, this encourages all laws to be obeyed, making the law more legitimate. The people control their own collective destiny
- by contrast, in a representative democracy, there is a gulf between the people and the government meaning that
Counterargument:
- direct democracy can lead to a ‘tyranny of the majority’ whereby the majority completely ignores the interests of the minority, meaning that big chunks of the population don’t benefit.
Advantage:
- creates better informed and more knowledgeable citizens. Since there is no mediator between the people and the government, more citizens feel like they can’t be a passive bystander, because they don’t want to reach the wrong conclusion themselves, and they don’t want a decision they oppose to be reached. Therefore, direct democracy has educational benefits
- in contrast, representative democracy can create laziness because once they have voted for a representative, they expect them to be knowledgeable and make the right decisions. Therefore, they might become entirely switched off from the political decisions being made
Counter-argument:
- in a direct democracy, certain leaders might establish themselves naturally - the attributes needed for these leaders to be prominent aren’t the same attributes which necessarily will mean they are right, or good representatives. For instance, natural leaders (in ancient Greece, an example of this could be the Demosthenes in the Ekklesia (Assembly)) will be those with the loudest voice, the most time, the most ideologically motivated, and in particular the best oratorical skills. Therefore, it could be argued that these leaders can sway the votes of the masses, and potentially mislead many voters. In contrast, representatives in a representative democracy have professional qualifications which put them in a better position to make important decisions
Advantage:
- removes dependence on self serving politicians
- by contrast, representative democracy places too much trust in a small number of politicians, which, although dedicated to constituents, are also bound to vote in certain ways due to the force of party whips
Counter-argument
- politicians better placed to make decisions than the majority of the population - meritocracy - have been elected because of their intelligence, qualifications, and experience
what are advantages/disadvantages of representative democracy?
Advantages
Practicable democracy
- impossible to have direct democracy - very few examples where this form of democracy has actually had any real success
- representative democracy can operate in large, modern countries
division of labour
- direct democracy means everyone is voting about every single decision
- in contrast, representative democracy means that politicians can specialise in different areas, enabling them to spend more time on a certain area and thus reach a more reasoned, substantiated argument for the decision they take - better decision making
government by experts
- links to other point
- experts will have superior understanding than the majority of the population
Disadvantages
- can create political apathy, and decreased political participation
- politicians may have ulterior motivations
- citizens feel powerless to make any real change - may resort to extreme measures to make their point heard - this is due to the gulf between the government and the people
- illegitimate government - low voter turnout and poor electoral system in UK, means thata representative democracy may not even be representative
What is a representative democracy?
- an indirect form of democracy which operates through the ability of representatives, having been elected by the people, to speak and act of behalf of the people.
- the way in which representatives are elected and removed is key to the functioning of this democracy
- popular participation is indirect, because the people can only influence policy decisions through who they choose to rule on their behalf
- it is mediated - government politicians act as a link from the people to the government
- it is limited - people can only vote for their representatives every few years or every year.
What are some of the arguments that the UK is suffering from a participation crisis?
Electoral system in the UK encourages low voter turnout:
- in the FPTP system, candidates to become an MP only require a plurality of votes in order to become the representative for that constituency. This means that only one more vote than the next successful candidate is needed to secure the constituency
- consequently, votes not for the winning candidate, or surplus votes, are both considered wasted votes
- therefore, FPTP encourages low participation because there are safe seats, therefore voters know that their vote will be meaningless
- this in turn encourages lower participation in elections
What are some of the arguments that the UK isn’t suffering from a participation crisis?
Refendums - form of direct democracy
- 81% turnout on Good Friday Agreement
- 84.6% turnout for Scottish independence referendum 2014 - highest turnout for an election or referendum in the UK since the 1910 general election
EVAL - still shows how representative democracy produces much lower turnout than direct democracy
Explain the difference between insider and outsider pressure groups
Insider groups are groups which that are consulted on a regular basis by the government. They operate inside the decision making process.
Outsider groups - have no links to government, but communicate with and attempt to influence them via their own demonstrations, mass media, and campaigning.
What is Extinction Rebellion?
How does Extinction Rebellion attempt to influence the government?
- cause group - social movement aimed at driving radical change, trying to prevent exctinction and the acceleration of climate change.
- has caused huge amounts of disruption, for instance, through what it called “Rebellion Day” in 2018, where thousands of people took part in coordinated action to block the five main bridges over the River Thames in London.
- Guardian described it as “one of the biggest acts of peaceful civil disobediance in the UK in decades”.
- arguably, this helps to forcefully draw attention to global warming
- however, its methods haven’t resulted in any tangible policy change by the government, indicating that it hasn’t been successful in this regard.
What is the BMA?
How does the BMA attempt to influence the government?
British Medical Association
- peak group - supporting the interests of the healthcare industry
- insider group - connected to the government
- registered trade union for doctors in the UK
Impact:
- by arguing and consulting with the government on introducing a ban on smoking in cars with children, the BMA was able to influence legislation
- Labour peer introduced an amendment to the Children and families Bill 2014, which made it illegal for people to smoke in a car with children
TUC
RMT
BLM
Black Lives Matter (UK)
- cause group
- outsider group
- social movement driving change, aiming to reduce racism against people of colour, and bring those guilty of police brutality against people of colour, to justice
Impact:
Occupy London
