uk democracy in participation crisis

Question 1

intro

Answer 1

it has been suggested that UK democracy has a ‘participation crisis’, as particularly in the 21st century, there has been declining traditional political movement.

Question 2

1) debate theme -

Answer 2

elections and referendums

Question 3

1) debate sections - elections and referendums

Answer 3

FOR -
- VTO in recent Uk general elections has been a great deal less than the average between 1945 and 1997, which was 76%.
- 2024 Ge it was just 59.8%
- TO is even lower in so-called ‘second order’ elections and referendums such as those for devolved bodies a councils –> TO in devolved assembly elections is generally low. it was just 63.5% in the 2021 Scottish parliament elections, the same in the 2022 NIA elections and 46.6% in 2021 Senedd Elections.
- Low TO means that govtss are elected on a reduced share of the popular vote, therefore calling the strength of their mandate to question
- One explanation for low VTO is political apathy; a lack of awareness or interest in political issues that affect society. this is particularly true of younger votes, who are much less likely to vote than the older generation, therefore limiting the responsiveness of political institutions to the interests of young people. –> TO among the 65+ age group in 2017 was around 25 percentage points higher than among 18-24 year olds
- it can be argued that this low VTO is driven by low trust in politicians. Polling conducted by YouGov for Sky in 2024 shows that distrust of politicians has declined since the 2019 election, there have even over 23 by-elections, the majority of which we triggered due to MPs (most of whom con MPs ) being forced to resign for breaking the law/severe misconduct issues. In the most of these cases, MPs resigned instead of facing a recall petition. The WELLINGBOROUGH By-Election feb 2024 followed the recall of Peter Bone after he was suspended from Parliament for 6 weeks due to allegations of bullying and sexual harassment.

AGAINST-
- 2014 Scottish independence referendum and the 2016 EU Ref had turnouts of 84.6% and 72.2%, showing there is still significant engagement surrounding critical issues.
- perhaps shows population still very engaged in political issues on which they feel they can have significant control, but voter less in elections as they have district of professional politicians, particularly in light of the 2010 Expenses Scandal, and Partygate

Question 4

debate theme 2-

Answer 4

party membership

Question 5

2) debate section -

Answer 5

FOR-
- Only 1.6% of the electorate now belongs to a political party, compared to 3.8% in 1983, however this differs party-to-party. –> the Con Party has estimated 100,000 members today, a significant drop from estimated 400,000 in the mid 1990s.
- less traditional political involvement could be associated with negative perception of MPs, due to various scandals and promises being broken. Since Starmer became Lab Party leader there has been a drop in membership in the party, in part due to a perception that his incteasinhgky centrist policies betray the promises he made in the leadership election. The Lab party’s membership has fallen from 500,000 under Corbyn to 370,000 today.

• If one takes ‘developmental’ perspective on democracy, which sees regular active political engagement from the public as key to the successful functioning of democracy, then this lack of party membership can be see as a major problem for democracy in the UK.

AGAINST-
- There was a surge in LP membership in 2015, when Milliband made it possible to join for just £3, with the party rising to over 500,000 members.

-Following the 1st Scot Independence Ref, membership of the SNP surged and it had over 125,000 members in April 2018, in a country of a population of just 5mil
- As of May 2025, Reform UK has over 220,000 members
-these examples suggest the public will use parties as a vehicle for political action id they are proposing some kind of radical change and potentially also suggest political action has shifted to single-issue politics.
- further, the ‘protective’ persecutive on democracy suggests that mass political involvement isn’t necessary for the protection of democracy, just enough to grant the system legitimacy. democracy isn’t a means of mass participation but a system where a competitive group of leaders vie for electoral support in the context of a broader respect for individual freedoms and liberties. as long as these freedoms continue to be respected, then democracy isn in a crisis.

Question 6

3) debate theme -

Answer 6

other methods political participation

Question 7

3) debate section- other methods political participation

Answer 7

AGAINST-
-PG membership has been on the increase, whilst many young people in particular actively engage with politics on social media.
- Many demonstrations have been well attended on issues such as the Iraq War, Brexit, BLM and the climate crisis. This direct action has been recognised as a feature of modern politics, indicating that people feel conventional politics has let them down and are tuning to new methods of expression.
- Throughout the first half of 2024, there have been consistent protests across the UK for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to put pressure on the Israeli govt to end the war. LP Feb 2024 support ‘immediate humanitarian ceasefire’ and con FS Cameron calling for de-escalation.
- E-petitions pm specific political issues regularly receive hundreds of thousands of signatures. e.g. the Revoke Article 50 petition of March 2019 has over 5.5 mill signatures
- 2023 e-petition titled ‘Increase statutory maternity pay in line with cost of living crisis’ received over 38,000 signatures for an increase in statutory maternity pay to better support new mothers during economically challenging times. The petition reached the required threshold of signatures and was subsequently debated by the Petitions Committee on June 19, 2023. As a result, the govt responded with an enhancement to maternity pay - 10.1% increase.

FOR-
- The petition to allow transgender people to self-identify their legal gender surpassed 125,000 signatures and will be debated in Parliament on 19 May 2025. However, the government has already stated it does not plan to change the current Gender Recognition Act.

• other forms of political involvement are certainly important, but are arguably less impactful and important than voting and party membership. voting in elections and party membership are crucial to granting the UK’s democratic system legitimacy, whilst if pressure groups and demonstrations aren’t listened to by professional politicians, then this could be seen as undermining UK democracy and showing there is a participation crisis..