1.1Current Systems Of Representative And Direct Democracy c 3 Flashcards
(25 cards)
Direct democracy
All individuals express their opinions themselves and not through representatives acting on their behalf. Eg: a referendum
Representative democracy
A form of democracy in which an individual selects a person ( or a political party) to act on their behalf to exercise political choice, UK is a representative democracy
What are the advantages of direct democracy
- Gives equal weight to all votes, unlike a representative system where votes don’t all have equal value
- encourages popular participation by expecting people to take their duties as a citizen properly
- develops a sense of community and encourages genuine debate
Disadvantages of direct democracy
- impractical in a large, heavily populated modern state where decision making is complicated
- open to manipulation by articulate speakers eg: Boris Johnson
- Use of it in the UK raised a problem,seen in Brexit as the public thought differently to those elected in the HOC, 75% of HOC said no to Brexit, but 52% of public said yes, led to another campaign and so Brexit took a long time to complete
- minority viewpoints disregarded, as it is a majoritarian system
Advantages of representative democracy
- the only practical system in a large modern state, where issues are complex and often need rapid response (eg deployment of troops)
- reduces chances of minority rights being overridden by tyranny of the majority
- elections allow people to hold representatives to account
Disadvantages of representative democracy
- may lead to reduced participation as people choose to hand responsibility to politicians
- parties and pressure groups are often run by elites pursuing their own agendas, not truly representing the people
- minorities may still find themselves underrepresented as politicians are more likely to follow the views of majority to secure election
What is pluralist democracy
Government makes decisions as a result of interplay of various ideas and contrasting arguments from competing groups and organisations
- for many pluralist democracies should be encouraged, ensures minority viewpoints are heard, and promotes debate and political engagement in society
What is a national referendum
Direct vote on a single issue, eg: brexit
- UK has only had 3 ever, 1975, 2016, 2011
What is the positives of the Uk political democratic features
- devolved governments: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, mayor of london
- independent judiciary: upholds rule of law and protects personal freedoms
- free and fair elections: largely free of election ans intimidation
- free media - challenges government policy and exposes misdeeds of politicians
- wide range of political parties and pressure and pressure groups
What are the negatives of the UK’s political democratic system
- underreprentation of minority viewpoints due to the voting system: FPTP system
- House of Lords lack democratic legitimacy: lords inherit the role
- lack of protection for citizens rights
- control of the sections of the media by wealthy, unaccountable business interest
What is the evidence of a participation crisis
- average turnout from 1945-97 was 76%, since then it’s decreased
- in 2001 it was below 60, although it’s increased in last few years
- 2024, 59.4%
info on Party membership size
Conservative party has 150k members in 2016, was 400k in mid 90’s
Labour went to above 540k under corbyn,
Lib Dem’s had 76k in 2016
- as of March 2025, Reform UK had 220k members, huge growth, overtaking the conservatives at 131k
Reasons for why voting should be compulsory
- it’s a social duty as well as a right, people should be engaged in processes affecting their life
- would produce a parliament more representative of general public
- politicians would have to run better quality campaigns to gain approval of public
Reasons for why voting should remain voluntary
- undemocratic to force people to do something which is a matter of choice
- ## compulsory voting doesn’t address the deeper reasons to why people don’t vote
what is parliamentary sovereignty?
- parliament can make any law that it wants, cannot entrench anything, but can undo any previous laws passed
what is popular sovereignty?
- the power the people have to vote a government out of office if the people dont like the government - general election
what is a democratic deficit, and does the UK have one?
when the people don’t have a say - the Rwanda crisis, the people didn’t have a say in that agenda
- people claim the UK may have a democratic deficit, as it uses FPTP system, Control of media by wealthy unaccountable business interests, like Rupert Murdoch
What are some examples of direct democracy
- 2014, Scottish independence referendum, 84.6% turnout
- 2016, brexit, 72.2% turnout
- 2015 Recall MPs act, by election triggered if 10% of constituents vote for recall if MP gets a custodial sentence or suspended from commons for 3 weeks
- DIRECT DEMOCRACY HOLDS PEOPLE TO ACCOUNT
What’s an eg of representative democracy being very effective
- MP’s will seek to represent their constituents, December 2023 22 conservatives MPs supported a labour amendment aimed at speeding up compensation for victims of the infected blood scandal, rebelling against 3 conservatives whips to do so
What is a legitimacy?
- legal right to exercise power, a gov’s right to rule following an election
- important for Gov’s as it validates policies of those in power as legitimacy has been derived from support of the people
What are the protective and developmental perspectives on democracy?
- protective perspective focuses on the working of democracy as a protection for individual freedom, not expective large-scale citizen participation in politics, rather just enough to grant the system legitimacy
- developmental perspective believes for democracy to be successful, people need to engage on an active basis, greater citizen encouragement would achieve a more open and engaging political system but also a more equal society addressing gender and social class inequalities in access to politics.
What are the main similarities between direct and representative democracy
- Both implement the will of the people, based on concept of majority rule
- can be implemented at different levels of democracy, local regional, national
- in both systems, people can be swayed and misled by powerful people
How can direct democracy be used within a representative democracy apart from referendums?
- Rupert Lowe, (reform UK mp for Great Yarmouth) voted in favour of the terminally ill adults bill, as a result of holding a mini referendum in his constituency, as 75% of his constituents were in favour of the bill
- Direct democracy as Rupert lowe essentially left decision in hands of his constituents, as MPs can hold their MP to account and vote them out if they don’t represent their constituents effectively
What’s the most recent EG of representative democracy
- 24th Nov, HOC passed the ‘terminally ill adults bill’ through its 2nd reading, with a majority of 55. Introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater as a private members bill
- clear eg of representative democracy as it was a ‘free vote’, with MPs voting with their conscience rather then party lines
