UK Paper 1: Democracy and Participation Flashcards
what are the features of direct democracy and its advantages/disadvantages?
the people make policy decisions, rather than choose people to make these decisions for them. the main example of DD in the UK is referendums. in true DD all decisions would be made by the people.
advantages:
-only pure form of democracy
-creates more knowledgeable and politically active citizens.
-ensures laws are legitimate - people are more likely to accept rules which they have made themselves.
disadvantages:
-DD only achievable in small communities.
-not a sensible way to make important decisions
-over-engages people, causing polarisation in society.
what are the features of representative democracy and its advantages/disadvantages?
this is a more limited and indirect form of democracy that most democratic countries use today, like the UK. it involves electing representatives to make decisions on behalf of the public.
advantages:
RD is the only form of democracy that can operate in large, modern societies - DD cannot practically be used today.
-more efficient - ordinary citizens are relieved of day-to-day decision making
-RD places decision making in hands of experts who are knowledgeable in their fields.
disadvantages:
-places too much faith in politicians, who are likely to distort public opinion by imposing their own views onto it
-RD is experiencing a crisis in the UK; low turnouts, apathy and dissatisfaction with the current system are rife.
-it is very easy for people to become disengaged from politics, due to elections happening so infrequently.
what is the evidence that the UK is suffering from a participation crisis?
participation is very poor compared to the 20th century - turnout was 75%+ between 1945-1992 - 84% in 1950. in contrast turnout in the 2001 election was 59%. while this has risen to ~68% in 2019, it is still well below the levels from a few decades ago.
-mass party membership and partisanship have declined substantially. cons had nearly 3m members in 1953 - fell to 180k in 2019.
-while some may argue that digital individual politics has seen a huge increase in participation with the rise of social media, it could be argued this is slacktivism rather than activism - participation is shallow, makes very little impact on democracy or the views of others.
what is the evidence that the UK is not suffering from a participation crisis?
-turnout has been on the rise recently - eg turnout was 59% in 2001, but 68% in 2019. there has also been many more opportunities to vote in recent years, such as european elections and devolved assemblies in scotland, wales and northern ireland.
low turnout may also not be a bad thing - “happathy” can cause low turnouts, eg good economic situation in 2001 leading to low turnout.
-there has been a recent revival in party membership. this is especially true with smaller parties like the Greens and Reform UK, which have seen spikes in membership recently. the quality of engagement in remaining members of the large parties is also of much higher quality than it was historically. eg when boris johnson was elected leader of cons, there was an 87% turnout in the leadership election.
-individual politics is a way for people to engage in politics in new and innovative ways. methods are democratic, as they are open to all, and are reaching those who have been turned off by party politics. could be argued the nature of participation is changing, rather than participation declining.
what are referendums and the arguments for and against their use?
referendums are a form of direct democracy, involving a public vote on a specific issue. some countries will hold referendums on any legislation (i.e. if the legislation should stay in place or if it should be overturned), provided 50,000 signatures are gained.
-FOR: there is popular support for wider use of referendums. 55% of the UK public says that referendums should be used more often than they are today. high turnouts in the scottish independence referendums demonstrate this desire.
-AGAINST: however, under the current system there is absence of popular control over when or where referendums are used. this creates suspicion that govts will only ever call referendums on issues which they support and are confident they will win.
-FOR: this could be overcome by establishing processes where citizens can initiate referendums, eg getting a certain number of signatures on a petition.
-AGAINST: it could be argued there is no need to use more referendums. increased use of referendums often leads to voter fatigue and apathy. eg swiss referendums normally yield turnouts of less than 50% due to their frequency.
-AGAINST: increased use of turnouts can lead to “tyranny of the majority” where the rights of marginalised groups are undermined; eg minarets were banned by referendum in swizerland in 2009.
what are initiatives and the arguments for and against their use?
these are not currently used in the uk. they allow people to propose a new law or constitutional amendment by gathering a required number of signatures from the public. if the required signatures are gained, the law is then put to public vote, and will be passed if it gains over half the votes. they are different to referendums because representatives play no role at all - the process is entirely conducted by the public.
-FOR: initiatives would give the public more direct control over law-making, strengthening the role of direct democracy (the most pure form)
-AGAINST: tyranny of the majority
what are citizens’ assemblies and the arguments for and against their use?
made up of a representative group of 50-200 people, selected to be broadly representative of wider society. members are then given the job of carrying out an in-depth analysis into a policy issue, involving research into the subject and recommendations for action. a citizen’s assembly was formed in ireland in 2015, which led to the 2015 marriage equality referendum.
FOR: can explore the views of the public on a policy issue, and come up with concrete solutions. XR campagins for citizens’ assemblies to be set up on climate change policy.
FOR: CAs can add to representative democracy by giving representatives understanding of informed public viewpoints, and also building trust with participation and engagement.
AGAINST: CRs are expensive, and often impractical for lots of decisions.
AGAINST: there are already plenty of ways for politicians to understand the views of the public such asn opinion polls - CRs are an unnecessary addition to the system.
what are the arguments that franchise should/should not be extended to 16/17 year olds?
what are the arguments that voting should/should not be compulsory?
easy essay structure for a democracy/participation question?
p1: representation
p2: representation
p3: accountability
what is a sectional/interest group?
sectional groups represent the interests of a particular section of society. for example, the muslim council of britain represents the interests of british muslims. the national union of students (NUS) represents the interests of students. the groups lobby the government on behalf of these clearly defined social groups.
what is a cause group?
cause groups promote one specific issue/group of issues. greenpeace/XR are cause groups, due to their members being united by the shared desire to protect the environment. members of cause groups may be from many different sections of society.
what is an insider group?
an insider group has access to government decision making. eg the british medical association (BMA) represents doctors, so possesses specialist info which governments want to consult. the howard league is an impartial organisation which is able to supply the home office with info on crime, policing, sentencing, etc.
what is an outsider group?
outsider groups do not possess access to political decision making. therefore they can only promote their causes by gaining public support or some other means. eg the gurkha justice campaign gained public support on the issue of getting residency rights for gurkhas who served in the british military.
