Democracy and participation Flashcards
(58 cards)
What is a representative democracy?
A form of democracy in which voters elect representatives to make political decisions on their behalf
-It is based on the principle that elected politicians should represent the interests of all their constituents
What are the advantages of a representative democracy?
-Government is carried out by professional politicians who are required to be well informed about political issues
-They are more likely to make politically educated decisions than most members of the public, who may be swayed by emotion and may not fully understand the complexities of a question
-Elected politicians balance conflicting interest when reaching decisions and this is important in protecting the rights of all citizens especially minorities and ensuring that the implication of a decision for all members of the community have been thoroughly examined
What are the disadvantages of representative democracy?
-mps represent a metropolitan elite that does not represent the more traditional values of the population-meaning MPs can be disengaged from the public and do not adequately represent their interest
EXAMPLE-in the 2016 EU membership referendum 52% of public voted to lead the EU whereas 74% of MPs have been in favour of remaining
-mPs can have outside interests including second jobs which can further contribute to a conflict of interest and possibly compromise their ability to fully represent their constituents
EXAMPLE-Owen Patterson resigned as an MP after he was criticised by the commissioner for Parliamentary standards for lobbying on behalf of companies that employed him
-Critics also claimed that the Westminster Parliament is highly unrepresentative because it is elected through FPTP.
-The House of Lords is unelected and so uncountable to the public further undermining Parliament representative function.
-The social makeup of parliament is still primarily white male and middle class.
How unrepresentative is the Westminster Parliament?
-The social background of MPS is much more middle class than it was in the parliament elected in 1945-85% of MPs also attended university and 19% graduated from either Oxford or Cambridge. Some argue that MPs do not need to share the same characteristics as a group to represent their interest for example legislation advancing LGBT plus rights has been passed by predominantly heterosexual parliament
-A powerful criticism of the UK’s representative democracy is that is least likely to engage the poorest and most marginalised in society. EXAMPLE-2018 the hansard society estimated that 83% of higher social groups were prepared to participate in politics compared with 41% for less prosperous social groups and only 2% of homeless people are registered to vote in 2018
What is direct democracy?
A form of democracy in which citizens themselves rather than representatives make political decisions
What are six examples of direct democracy?
-Referendum
-electronic petitions
-Consultative exercises
-Open primaries
-Election of the leadership of political parties
-recall of MPs act 2015
When has the referendum been used and what is the advantage and disadvantage of it?
-2014 in the Scottish independence referendum 55.3% voted in of Scotland remaining in the UK and 44.7% voted in favour of independence.
-eu referendum 2016 52% voted in favour of leaving and 48% voted in favour of remaining
ADV-search the public have voted directly the results can claim greater legitimacy then a decision reached by their representatives
DISADV- referendum require a detailed understanding of issues which the public may lack
When have electronic petitions been used and what are the advantages and disadvantage?
If a petition on the government website reaches 100,000 signatures it will be considered for debate.
In 2021 several important issue were raised by a petition such as making it a legal requirement for nightclubs to search guests on entry
ADV-2020 England football on Marcus Rashford’s campaign gained over 1.1 million signatures generating huge public enthusiasm and persuading government to commit to free school meals for low income families during holidays
DISADV-petitions can also raise false expectations and consume parliamentary time
What is a consultative exercise and what is a advantage and disadvantage of it?
-these can be set up when governing bodies want to assist the likely reaction to their proposed policies
ADV-provide an important way of engaging with public on issues that directly affect them
DISADV-since they are consultative exercises the public opinion is not binding. They are also unrepresentative as the most socially disadvantage groups are least likely to engage.
What are open primary and what is an advantage and disadvantage?
-The public directly decide who the candidate should be
ADV-if the public have direct influence over who the candidates for political office will be people less closely affiliated with political parties are more likely to enter politics
DISADV-
What is election of the leadership of political parties and what is an advantage and disadvantage?
All the main political parties now allow their members to decide who the leader of the party will be.
-In 2022 Liz truss defeated Rishi Sunak for leadership of the Conservative party by 57% to 43%
ADV-this makes the leadership accountable to the whole party
DISADV-it gives too much influence the party activist who are generally more radical than the electorate for example labour party members re-elected Jeremy Corbyn as leader in 2016 by 61.8% even though labour MPS had previously passed a vote of no confidence in him by staggering 172/ 40 votes
What is the recall of MP’s act 2015 and what is an advantage and disadvantage?
If an MP has been imprisoned, suspended from the house by the committee on standards or are convicted of making false expense claims then a recall petition signed by a minimum of 10% of their constituents can trigger a by election
-EXAMPLE-in 2019 the Peterborough MP Fiona was sentenced to a three month jail term for perverting the course of justice. 25% of registered voters demanded her record and she did not contest the subsequent by election.
ADV-power of recall makes MPs accountable to their constituents in matters of serious misconduct or illegal behaviour
DISADV-the circumstances in which it can be activated or so extreme that critics argue its impact has been negligible
What are the advantages of a direct democracy?
-It engages the public and makes politicians more responsive to what people really think-this creates a closer connection between the public and political decision-making
-By providing the public with more opportunities to make decisions, it creates greater engagement in the political process, encouraging a more politically educated and civically involve citizenry
-Greater use of direct democracy ensures or representatives are kept a better informed of developing public attitude through referendums etc
What are disadvantages of direct democracy?
-Referendums dangerously simplify questions to a binary ‘yes or no’ when the issues are much more complex than that
-Direct democracy can challenge the burkean principle that representative should act according to their conscious not the wishes of their constituents
-Does not balance conflicting interests or protect the rights of minorities
-Can also encourage the public to vote on issues which they are not sufficiently knowledgeable to make well informed decisions
To what extent is the public trust in MPS?
What is a democratic deficit?
-When there is so little democratic participation by the public and so little trust and political institutions that only a minority of citizens engage in politics
In what ways is the uk democracy in need of reform
-trust in politicians and political party membership has declined
-turnout in general elections have substantially decreased
If voting trends remain low, legitimacy that elected politicians can claim will be significantly reduced. For example 2022 no mayoral election gained more than 50% turnout while Welsh parliament was elected on just a 46.5% turnout
What are people’s referendums
Claims that politicians are insufficiently accountable to the public could be addressed by greater use of direct democracy so that the people themselves are able to make choices for example referendums.
For example, according to the constitution of the Republic of Ireland (1937), any proposed constitutional change has to be endorsed by the public in a referendum.
Therefore, the legalisation of same-sex marriage (2015) and abortion (2018) were both endorsed by the public in a referendum. However, this model can lead to democratic overload. From 2000 to 2022, Ireland has had 19 referendums. The average turnout has been only 48.4% (compared with the 67.3% turnout in the
2019 UK general election), which hardly suggests that referendums have energised democracy. Equally, some of the referendums, such as whether the age limit for presidential candidates should be reduced to 21 (2015), could be seen as insufficiently pressing for a public debate.
What does the Introduction of electronic petitions mean for the uk
Means that Westminster parliament now includes element of direct democracy enabling the public to raise issues that they believe need resolving
Some critics suggest that electronic petitions could be more powerful if they automatically trigger a parliamentary vote. However, this would provide the government with much less time to fulfil the legislative programme on which it has a mandate to govern. It could also bog Parliament down further, debating and voting upon issues that our representatives have already decided upon. For example, in 2021 electronic petitions demanded, among other things, that work on HS2 be stopped immediately and that student tuition fees be reduced from £9,250 to £3,000. Although e-petitions can be important in encouraging redress of grievance, it is also important that they not be used to try to reopen issues on which our representatives have already legislated or decided.
What does power of recall mean for the uk
Enables voters to trigger a by election if 10% of them sign a petition. The circumstances for this is quite extreme- mp would have had to be sentenced to prison , suspended from House of Commons or falsifying their spending
Critics point out that ‘policy recall’ could be used for political advantage by opposition parties as some suggest has been the case in California. Providing voters with an opportunity to dismiss representatives whom they believe have not represented their interests would also undermine the Burkean principle that MPs should act according to their conscience. If MPs could be recalled because their decision conflicted with their constituents’ wishes, then Parliament could be deprived of independent-thinking MPs and replaced by mere mouthpieces of their constituents. This could undermine the reputation and authority of Parliament.
House of Lords reform
The House of Lords is unelected and unaccountable. Its membership is appointed and there are claims that this can encourage political cronyism. For example, during his premiership (2019-22), Boris Johnson appointed 86 new life peers, the majority of whom were Conservatives, including the former Conservative Party treasurer Peter Cruddas, who is a major donor to the Conservative Party
Making the Lords an elected chamber would make Westminster fully democratically accountable. The danger is that an elected Lords could become a rival to the Commons, potentially creating constitutional gridlock, which would be unlikely to make representative government more popular. Given public lack of trust in MPs and concerns about low electoral turnout for elections to the House of Commons, it is also difficult to see how providing another elected chamber at Westminster would encourage greater voter participation.
What are the 5 points regarding digital democracy
• Voting on your mobile phone at your convenience would likely encourage more voting, but it would also mean that voting was no longer carried out in secret and so the possibility of voter manipulation would increase.
• Allegations of cyber-interference in Western elections by Russia indicates that electronic voting is more open to fraud than traditional voting.
• The way in which politicians and activists use social media can encourage populist sloganeering rather than informed political discussion.
• The standard of debate on social media indicates that activists and politicians can use this as much to bully as to engage in considered debate.
• The banning of President Trump from Twitter in 2021 also raises the important question of whether media companies should be allowed to determine who is allowed on their social platforms.
Reform of Westminster electoral system
Critics of FPTP claim that it discourages voting because it limits voter choice by over-rewarding the Labour and Conservative parties, making it much more difficult for other parties to gain representation. The replacement of FPTP with a proportional form of election would create a fairer connection between the votes a party receives and its representation in Parliament. If ‘wasted votes’ and ‘safe seats’ were eliminated, votes would carry more weight and voters would have a greater incentive to vote.
• In the 2011 additional vote (AV) referendum, a large majority (67.9%) voted in favour of not replacing FPTP with AV.
• The parliaments in Wales and Scotland are elected by the additional member system (AMS), which is a type of proportional representation. However, their voter turnouts suggest that the introduction of proportional representation will not necessarily provide an effective remedy.
Compulsory voting
In order to improve government’s legitimacy, 16 nation states enforce compulsory voting, although one of these is North Korea where only one name appears on the ballot.
• The first country to introduce compulsory voting was Belgium, in 1893. It is an accepted part of Belgian life and in the 2019 federal election turnout was 90%.
• Australia has required citizens to vote in national elections since 1924. In its 2019 federal elections, 92% of those eligible voted.
Supporters of compulsory voting argue that when a high percentage of the electorate engage in the democratic process, a government’s mandate is significantly enhanced.
Compulsory voting would address the decreasing voter turnout in the UK. Voters would be forced to engage with their civic responsibilities, encouraging a more politically educated and participatory democracy.
However, compulsory voting is also highly controversial since critics claim that it gives the state too much power to coerce its citizens. According to some activists, the decision not to engage at any level with the voting process represents a powerful political statement of disapproval. Forcing people to vote also fails to address the reasons why people may choose not to vote. Although compulsory voting would increase voter turnout, critics respond that the extra votes might not necessarily be informed ones. This could degrade rather than enhance the outcome. Indeed, being compelled to vote might even reduce popular enthusiasm for the democratic process by making it seem oppressive.
