UNIT 1 Democracy introduction Flashcards
The Democracy Index
The top of the league - Norway
The bottom of the league - North Korea
The UK is 16th on this Index.
State and Govt.
popular, political, legal sovereignty
Popular sovereignty: voters become sovereign during elections and referendums, BREXIT is the most significant form of popular sovereignty in the last decade.
Political sovereignty: locates the source of real power in politics, usually PM + party are sovereign in between elections.
Legal sovereignty: power to create and change laws.
State and Govt.
What’s the difference between A State and The State?
A State = country that has a sovereignty which is recognised in and out the country. France is A state.
The State = refers to the institutions within a country that influence or authority. BBC + NHS are all institutions within the UK are established as the State. Often politically neutral.
State and Govt.
Branches of Government
Legislative = the form of giving formal consent to proposed laws is called promulgation.
Executive = main function Is to develop new legislation and present it to the legislature and run the state.
Judiciary = judges are politically neutral, if the government mismanages and is infringing the rights of its citizens, the judiciary is involved.
State and Govt.
Magna Carta 1215 and the Bill of Rights 1689
MC 1215 - First establishment of the Rule of Law - nobody was above the law. Aimed towards monarchs but applicable to anybody with power.
BofR 1689 -
- king rules parallel to a permanent Parliament.
- regular and free elections would form the parliament.
- monarch required consent from Parliament for taxation.
- monarch needed approval from parliament to create/change laws.
State and Govt.
Glorious Revolution
Great Reform Act 1832
Glorious Revolution created a two-party divide - those who supported the monarch and the authority = Tories. Those who supported parliamentary power = Whigs. They were usually part of the new capitalist middle class.
Great Reform Act 1832 - very disorganised and underrepresented - rural areas overrepped and urban areas underrepped.
- Many MPs did not attend the chamber and the Commons was full of wealthy classes who viewed the MP as a status symbol not duty to the nation.
- Whigs fought to change this, and a bill was sternly debated and passed successfully in 1832.
Why is turnout important in a representative democracy?
low turnout threatens governmental authority and legitimacy. Legitimacy is what allows the government to exercise power.
low turnout also threatens the mandate of the winning party, and s other may not always be able to pursue their mandate
