6 Democracy and Participation Flashcards
(134 cards)
1
Q
What are two continuing debates about suffrage?
A
- Prisoner voting rights
- 16-17 year olds
2
Q
What are two examples of how civil rights are threatened in the UK?
A
- Protected by mere Acts of Parliament
- Access to courts prohibitively expensive
3
Q
What are two features of the 1969 Representation of the People Act?
A
- Voting age reduced from 21 to 18
- Harold Wilson
4
Q
What are two key movements in the UK’s democratisation?
A
- Chartist movement
- Suffragists/suffragettes
5
Q
What are two main suffrage groups for women?
A
- National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) 1897, Millicent Fawcett
- Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) 1903, Emmeline Pankhurst
6
Q
What are two problems with the 2024 election?
A
- Gallagher index - least proportional victory in history
- 33.7% winning share lowest ever
- 174 seat majority 4th biggest of all time
7
Q
What are two things that might explain increasing political apathy?
A
- Brexit
- MP’s expenses scandal 2009
8
Q
What are three examples of disappointing turnout other than elections?
A
- 2014 European Elections - 34% turnout, and UKIP victory
- 2012 PCC elections - 15% nationwide, 12% Staffordshire
- 2011 Scottish Parliament election - 50% turnout
9
Q
What are three facts about the Chartists?
A
- Set up in the 1830s after the failure of the 1832 Great Reform Act to really enfranchise the working class
- Compiled monster petitions in 1839, 1842 and 1848, up to 6 million (often dubious) signatures each
- Evolved into the Reform League, important in the 1867 Second Reform Act
10
Q
What are three features of the 1832 Great Reform Act?
A
- Lord Grey and the Whig Government passed this law
- 20% of male adults (5.6% of the total population) could now vote
- Established rotten boroughs, for example Old Sarum, which returned 2 MPs but had almost no voters
11
Q
What are three features of the 1928 Representation of the People Act?
A
- Stanley Baldwin
- Women and men on equal terms
- Universal suffrage 21+
12
Q
What are three further reforms to improve democracy over the UK’s history?
A
- 1872 - Secret Ballots
- 1883 - Bribery Banned
- 1885 - Redistricting
13
Q
What are three key points in an essay about political apathy?
A
- Turnout
- Party membership
- Volatility
14
Q
What are four arguments against a participation crisis?
A
- SNP, Greens and Reform have seen recent resurgences in membership
- Election turnout is inconsistent. It goes up and down
- Pressure group and social movements have more influence
- Slacktivism and social media may still be meaningful engagement
15
Q
What are four arguments against prisoner voting rights?
A
- Crimes against society
- Parliamentary sovereignty - 1983 ROPA and subsequent votes
- Concentrated in one area, yet not representative of that area - when the largest prison is completed in 2027, it will represent about 2.5% of its constituency population (HMP Highpoint)
- Public opinion - 2012 YouGov poll found 63% opposed the idea
16
Q
What are four arguments for a participation scandal?
A
- Turnout has been historically low
- Membership of political parties has steeply declined
- Partisan dealignment
- Apathy among the young is common
17
Q
What are four arguments in favour of prisoner voting rights?
A
- Rehabilitation harder
- Voting is a human right
- Prisoners have legitimate problems
- ECtHR must be respected
18
Q
What are four arguments in favour of representative democracy?
A
- Knowledge and judgement
- Able to reconcile policy conflicts with broader responsibility
- Belonging to a political party enables voters to foresee how an elected representative will behave once elected
- More efficient
19
Q
What are four benefits of direct democracy?
A
- Improves political education, and not the other way around. Motivates people to learn more
- Popular in some instances e.g. 84% turnout in Scotland 2014
- More legitimate - majority support required
- Improve accountability and align the view of the people with the view of the elected representatives
20
Q
What are four disadvantages of direct democracy?
A
- Political education is often poor - for instance, in 2016, the 350m figure on the side of the bus was exaggerated, it was a gross not a net flow. The real figure was about 163.5m
- Parliamentary sovereignty
- Turnout for direct democracy measures often low e.g. AV 42% turnout
- Impractical
21
Q
What are four features of the 1884 Third Reform Act?
A
- William Gladstone’s Liberal Government
- Uniform franchise for all men
- All working men with a property qualification could now vote, resolving the old differences between rural and urban boroughs
- 40% of adult men were still excluded, mainly rural working-class tenant farmers. In Ireland only 50% could vote, versus 66% in England and Wales
22
Q
What are four features of the 1918 Representation of the People Act?
A
- Pressure from WW1
- David Lloyd George
- All men over 21, regardless of property qualifications, and all veterans over the age of 19 could now vote
- Women, with property qualifications, over the age of 30 could now vote
23
Q
What are four recent developments in political participation?
A
- e-Petitions
- Posts on social media
- Protests
- Boycotts
24
Q
What are five famous petitions?
A
- 2019 - 6 million signatures to stop Brexit
- 2019 - 1.7 million signatures to stop prorogation of Parliament
- 2024 - 3 million signatures to call an election
- 2017 - 1.86 million to stop Trump’s state visit
- 2007 - 1.8 million against road pricing
Only road pricing successful and probably would’ve happened anyway. Major cities introduced congestion charges.
25
What are five features of the 1867 Second Reform Act?
1. Passed by Disraeli's Conservative government
2. More radical than 1832 Great Reform Act
3. Allowed working-class men in cities to vote.
4. Roughly 1/3 of men can now vote, and doubled the size of the electorate
5. Still excludes certain rural voters
26
What are six landmark laws in the introduction of universal suffrage in the UK?
1. 1832 Great Reform Act
2. 1867 Second Reform Act
3. 1884 Third Reform Act
4. 1918 Representation of the People Act
5. 1928 Representation of the People Act
6. 1969 Representation of the People Act
27
What are the features of UK democracy?
REEL PARCS
Elections, Representation, Legitimacy, Participation, Accountability, Rule of law, Smooth transition of power, Civil Rights, Education and information
28
What is the age and turnout evaluation?
2019: 47% 18-24, 74% over-65s
## Footnote
Poll, not a census. 2017 BBC report says no expected "youthquake" occurred in 2017 despite expectations
29
Besides constitutional issues, what do other countries often use referendums for?
Ethical issues
## Footnote
UK seldom does e.g. Assisted Dying Bill 2024.
30
What is a challenge of participation in UK democracy?
Who can really participate and be an MP fully?
31
What are the challenges to elections in the UK?
Turnout, proportionality
32
What are the challenges to representation in the UK?
Demographics, party allegiance
33
What are the challenges to smooth transitions of power in the UK?
2010 GE - Lib Dem and Tory coalition agreement
34
What is democracy?
A system of government where the government is accountable to the people.
35
What is direct democracy in the UK?
Rarely used, and then reserved for constitutional issues.
36
What is direct democracy?
Where people participate directly and make decisions on laws/political decisions without the intermediary of elected representatives.
37
What was the energy behind Chartist movements?
Workhouses vs bread tax and no wealth tax.
38
What is enfranchisement?
Giving the right to vote.
39
What is the evaluation on registration to vote in the UK vs the US?
Legal requirement in the UK, opt in in the US.
40
What is the evaluation on the woman's suffrage movement success?
Achieved with ROPA in 1918 initial successes, impossible to know whether this was down to their action or down to wartime experience.
41
What is evidence that accountability is threatened in the UK?
Corruption on the rise, fell down the Corruption Perception Index. 2023 UK reaches a record low on the Corruption Perceptions Index 18th place
42
What is evidence that democracy has always been restricted?
Ancient Athens - 10/20% could actually vote.
43
What is evidence that democracy has been habilitated by history?
1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes democracy.
44
What is evidence that education and information is threatened?
More social media disinformation.
45
What is evidence that female introduction to politics was slow? Caveat?
1. 1919 Nancy Astor first elected
2. But first female PM not till '79
3. Parliament still only 34% female
4. EHRC says will take around 250 years for final equality.
263 elected in 2024, a record
46
What is evidence that legitimacy in the UK political system is under threat?
No recent government (since 1931) has won with over 50% of the electorate.
47
What is evidence that major party membership is not in terminal decline?
Labour and Jeremy Corbyn - he managed to get many young members aboard.
48
What is evidence that NUWSS was popular?
By 1914 - 100,000 members.
49
What is evidence of falling UK turnout?
1945-1997 - turnout always above 70%
1997-present - turnout never above 70%.
50
What is evidence of Parliament's increasing ethnic diversity?
1. First non-white MPs not elected until 1987
2. In 2019, 10% of Parliament was a minority, then 14% in 2024. Still a way to go to 18%.
51
What is evidence that partisan dealignment is not a one way street?
Combined Tory/Labour vote share was 65% in 2010 but back up to 82% in 2017.
52
What is evidence that party membership is unrepresentative of population?
1. 2019 - 65% of UKIP are ABC1 and 85% of Lib Dems are
2. All parties have an average age above 50
3. More than half of Tory members in 2022 were 60 plus.
53
What is evidence that petition against Trump was effective?
2018 - 1.6 million signed - state visit to working visit - no Parliamentary address.
54
What is evidence that referendums are impractical?
2019 GE cost of delivery was £147 million.
55
What is evidence that referendums can be educational?
Public learnt for AV 2011.
56
What is evidence that rule of law faces challenges in the UK?
Some people seem to be immune from the law e.g. Prince Andrew.
57
What is evidence that suffragists were not effective?
By 1918 multiple suffrage bills had failed in Parliament already.
58
What is evidence that ethnic minority disenfranchisement is a big problem in the UK?
1. 25% of black voters are not registered
2. 24% of Asian voters are not registered compared to much lower for White British.
In 2013, about 10% of white population not registered to vote.
59
What is evidence that major party membership has been worse?
2013 - combined three party membership was only 0.8% of population - was 1.7% of population by 2019.
60
What is evidence that party membership used to be higher?
1950s - 2.8 million Tories and 1 million Labour members, millions more in affiliated unions.
61
What is evidence that the aristocracy opposed Davison?
Queen called her a 'horrible woman' in private journals.
62
What is evidence that the two party system in UK has declined?
2025 - Economist reports that National Popular Voting Intention is roughly a 4 way tie, and this comes after Labour secured the biggest postwar election swing ever in 2024.
63
What is an example of a country which, in contrast to the UK, relies heavily on direct democracy?
Switzerland
## Footnote
50,000 signatures and legislation can be challenged - optional referendum; 100,000 in 18 months - can propose a law.
64
What is an example of a famous WSPU protest?
1913 Epsom Derby - Emily Davison trampled.
65
What is an example of a pressure group aiming to resolve the problem of ethnic minority disenfranchisement in the UK?
Operation Black Vote.
66
What is an example of how referendums can be manipulated?
2016 - Brexit changed from yes/no to remain/leave because yes is more compelling than leave.
67
What is an example of how the WSPU would be considered a terrorist organisation?
Burnt buildings and attacked politicians.
68
What is an example of partisan dealignment in recent GEs?
1. 2019 and the demolition of the 'red wall'
2. 2024 and the 10.8% swing - 48 constituencies exceeded the previous swing record set in 1997.
69
What is a fact about 2001, 2024 UK election turnout?
Turnout in both 2001 and 2024 59.4% and 59.8% respectively
## Footnote
Close to all-time low of 57% in 1918.
70
For most of history, democracy was seen as...
A pejorative, with connotations of mob rule and disorder.
71
What are high turnout areas?
Above average levels of income and education, including Southwest and Southeast England.
72
What was the highest turnout in 2019? Why?
East Dunbartonshire - 80% turnout
## Footnote
Jo Swinson loses to SNP.
73
What was the highest turnout?
1950 - 84%.
74
What is the history of e-petitions?
Launched 2006 as a New Labour reform and relaunched 2011. Any petition with more than 10,000 signatures receive a response, and those with more than 100,000 are eligible for parliamentary debate, subject to Petitions Committee approval.
## Footnote
Many petitions e.g. 2020 self-employed sick pay signed by 700,000 are ignored by Petitions Committee and a substantial number debated come to nothing e.g. 2024 second election petition, signed by 3 million and debated on the 6/1/2025 in WH. Much more power in Switzerland and elsewhere.
75
How are prisoner voting rights worse in the US?
Most US states have restrictions on prisoner voting rights after being released from prison. In 2 states, ex-felons are completely disenfranchised.
76
How could direct democracy reduce the participation crisis?
Incentivise engagement - referendum turnout usually higher.
77
How did the 1969 RoPA come to be and evaluate?
Latey Committee commissioned in 1965, returned its report in 1967.
## Footnote
General evidence that government can occasionally accept the feedback of committees.
78
How did the NUWSS describe its own actions?
Gradualist
## Footnote
Millicent Fawcett - 'like a glacier - slow moving, but unstoppable.'
79
How does the UK system ensure accountability?
Frequent elections.
80
How has representative democracy in the UK recently reached its denouement?
2019 - final European Parliament elections, with 2020 EU(W)A.
## Footnote
No more EU representation.
81
How many could vote pre-1832?
400,000.
82
How many UK seats are 'safe'?
453/650 in 2019 had been won by the same party for at least 4 consecutive elections.
83
How many votes did people get pre-1832?
Most got none, some got multiple.
84
Is marginality linked to turnout and facts?
Nowhere near as much as we might expect.
## Footnote
2019 - 67.1% turnout in safe seats, 67.9% turnout in marginal seats (seats which had swapped hands in the past 4 elections or less).
85
What are low turnout areas?
Urban North, West Midlands, Thames Estuary.
86
What was the turnout in safe and marginal seats in 2019?
67.1% turnout in safe seats, 67.9% turnout in marginal seats.
87
What areas had low turnout in 2019?
Urban North, West Midlands, Thames Estuary and South Wales.
88
When did the female suffrage movement originate?
1860s in the UK.
89
When does democracy arguably date back to?
The 1832 Great Reform Act.
90
What is participation in politics?
The various ways by which people can get involved in the political process.
91
What is partisan dealignment?
The tendency of voters to increasingly swap the party they vote for.
92
What are the current party membership figures?
1. Labour - 309,000, falling continuously
2. Conservative - 131,680, falling continuously
3. Liberal Democrat - 90,000, slight resurgence
4. Reform - 225,000 as of April
5. Green - 60,000 and rising
6. SNP - 58,940 and falling.
93
What is the general picture of party membership?
Falling.
94
What is the history of prisoner voting rights?
1. John Hirst began a legal campaign. UK High Court dismissed his case in 2001.
2. In 2005 the ECtHR in Strasbourg ruled in Hirst's favour in Hirst v UK. Violation of Article 3.
3. Governments delayed. Cameron said it made him 'physically sick'. Legislation in 2010 to implement the ruling was rejected in Parliament
4. 2017 - David Lidington proposed granting on temporary licence voting to around 100 prisoners at any one time.
95
When was the first referendum in the UK?
1973. Northern Ireland border poll.
96
What is representative democracy?
A system of democracy in which people vote for elected representatives, who make decisions on their behalf.
97
What was the seat with the lowest turnout in the UK in 2019?
Kingston upon Hull East.
98
What is slacktivism?
Criticism of minimalist methods of political participation espoused by online political participation.
99
What is suffrage?
The right to vote.
100
What were the tactics of NUWSS?
Petitions, marches, leaflets, lobbying.
101
What were the tactics of WSPU?
Direct action.
102
Who comprised the oligarchy of pre-1832 England?
A rich landowning elite, usually aristocrats.
103
How can the UK before 1832 be described?
Oligarchy - a political system where power is concentrated in the hands of a few.
104
What was a threat to devolution in Northern Ireland as of 2024?
Sinn Féin became the largest parliamentary party after the 2024 General Election for the first time ever.
105
What is universal suffrage?
Everyone can vote. 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights.
106
Was the transition to democracy entirely peaceful?
There were times when this was threatened, e.g., Chartists in the 1830s.
107
What amount of +100,000 signature e-petitions are scheduled for parliamentary debate?
By 2012, 11 e-petitions had reached the 100,000 threshold, of which all were debated or scheduled for debate. Most in Westminster Hall.
108
What did the Chartists want?
Six Points of the People's Charter: 1. Annual elections 2. Fair districting 3. Universal male suffrage 4. Paid representatives 5. Secret ballot 6. Abolish property qualifications for MPs. All but annual elections achieved.
109
What gave suffrage as a human right?
1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 21, subsequently adopted by ECHR.
110
What is the 1969 ROPA exemplary of?
Softening attitudes over the '60s.
111
What key thing did the 1928 RoPA have?
Abolished property qualifications.
112
What recent evaluation is there for party membership?
1. Reform is surging, aiming to overtake Labour in 2025.
2. Greens surging among the highly educated young.
113
What undermines the view that voting is considered an inalienable human right?
Prisoners still can't vote.
114
What additional requirement was there for voting for women in the 1918 ROPA?
If you:
1. Lived in a university constituency and had graduated from that university
2. Owned or were married to the owner of property over 5 pounds
3. Occupied a dwelling-house
You could vote over the age of 30. Many government MPs considered this rather conservative, but considered the above mitigations as necessary so that the bill would pass.
115
What should be remembered about participation?
Voting is just one way of participating: 1. Go on a protest 2. Strike 3. Join a party 4. Write to MPs 5. Stand as a candidate 6. Join a pressure group.
116
When did female representation at Westminster really soar and why?
1997 - all women shortlists.
117
When did the WSPU and NUWSS suspend their campaigns?
1914.
118
When is turnout nationally higher and give an example?
Referendums. Brexit: 71% turnout; Scottish referendum: 85%; AV: 42% turnout.
119
When was Bill Clinton's 'year of the woman'?
1992.
120
When was the length of a parliamentary term shortened to 5 years?
1911 - had been 7.
121
Where is partisan dealignment most significant and give an example?
Non-Parliamentary elections. E.g., Brexit Party winning 2019 Parliament elections and 2014.
122
Which committee must approve a petition's progress to Parliament once it gets 100,000 signatures?
Petitions Committee.
123
Which part of the country was favoured by the Great Reform Act and what is a caveat?
Rural areas due to greater property ownership. Some cities were given representation, e.g., Manchester, even if their electorates were small.
124
Who led the WSPU?
Emmeline Pankhurst with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia.
125
Who still cannot vote in the UK?
1. 16-17 year olds 2. Peers 3. Prisoners.
126
Why are 16-17 year olds demanding the vote and what is recent evaluation?
1. They can already serve in the Army 2. They already pay some taxes. But the age of marriage was raised to 18 in 2023.
127
Why has partisan dealignment occurred?
Reduced class allegiances in politics.
128
Why is AV more democratic?
No FPTP weirdness.
129
Why is partisan dealignment not all that bad?
Isn't this just, like, democracy? People making up their mind on the merits of arguments and not class, gender or other primacy factors?
130
Why might membership declines not be so bad?
1. All institutions have experienced declines, e.g., trade unions and churches.
2. Pressure groups are more popular than ever.
131
Why might minority representation be better in the UK Government than in the US?
The UK has never had racial laws.
132
Example of how the Lib Dems fell off in 2015?
Norwich South - went from 1st to 4th place in 2015
133
How much vote share did Tories lose in 2024? Other fact?
1. Tories had 2 of the 5 recorded events of a party going from 1st to 4th place in 2024
2. 19.9% fall in vote share
Labour only gained 1.6%
134
Brexit turnout?
72.2%
