UNIT 1 - 0.4 Opportunities for Individuals Essay four Flashcards
Introdution
The UK as we know it works under what is known as a representative democracy a system where the populist do not participate directly but in theory hold the power through power in the masses individuals can participate and influence politics and decisions in a wide variety of ways through joining a political party, sighing petitions or joining pressure groups in this essay we will evaluate the effectiveness of methods in which individuals can influence politics - list of factors - Government consultations, sighing/creating petitions, Joining a pressure group/lobbying the government.
Point one
Some people may argue that Consultations have an effective way that citizens can influence politics - the Scottish Government recently consulted on tougher penalties for people who harm wildlife. 97% of people supported the plan and it became law in 2020.
Point one rebuttal
However some people may argue that consultations are not an effective way for people to infulence politics - For example, in 2017 the UK Government consulted on letting disabled people vote electronically, then took a year to respond by rejecting the idea.
Point two
Some people may argue that signing/ creating petitions is an effective way that people can influence politics - For example, in 2019 the UK Government supported the introduction of Finns Law after it received over 130,000 signatures in a petition. This law gave greater protection to police dogs and horses after the dog Finn was stabbed
Point two rebuttal
However, some people may argue that signing/ creating petitions is not an effective way for people to infunece politics - in recent years the two biggest petitions in UK history have been to cancel Brexit and ban Donald Trump from the UK gaining over 7 million signatures between them – neither were successful.
Point three
Some people may argue that Joining a pressure group/lobbying the government is an effective way that people can influence the government - in 2021 Scotland will become the first country in the world to have a LGBT inclusive education system because of the influence of the TIE pressure group.
Point three rebuttal
However, some people may argue that joining a pressure group/lobbying the government is not an effective method to influence the government - the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has been protesting outside the nuclear submarine base for almost 40 years but the UK government has remained committed to having nuclear weapons – Scotland still hosts the UK’s nuclear weapons.
