UK1: 1.1 Democracy and participation

Question 1

Abraham Lincoln describes democracy as?

Answer 1

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people”.

Question 2

A word for all the people eligible to vote in a country?

Answer 2

Franchise

Question 3

When was an 18 year old Women allowed to vote?

Answer 3

1969

Question 4

What act lowered the voting age to 18?

Answer 4

The representation of the people act 1969

Question 5

What is a democratic deficit?

Answer 5

There’s not enough democracy in the UK political system/ our democracy is flawed.

Question 6

What is a participation crisis?

Answer 6

Where a large proportion of the population do not engage with the political process.

Question 7

What was the turnout of these general elections:
-1997
-2001
-2019
-2024

Answer 7

Turnout:
-71%
-59%
-67%
-60%

Question 8

Reasons why there might be a participation crisis?

Answer 8

-Electoral participation
-Party memberships
-Decline of unions

Question 9

Reasons why there may not be a participation crisis?

Answer 9

-Pressure groups & movement membership
-Hapathy
-Role of minor parties

Question 10

What is suffrage?

Answer 10

The right to vote, aka franchise

Question 11

What is a pressure group?

Answer 11

An organised group of people that aim to influence the policies or actions of the government

Question 12

What are sectional pressure groups?

Answer 12

p.g represented by people from a certain section of society, e.g. certain religious groups or a particular industry.

Question 13

What are causal pressure groups?

Answer 13

A group which promotes a particular cause or issue, not necessarily one which affects its members directly. They generally have wider bases of membership.
E.g. RSPCA

Question 14

What’s an insider pressure group?

Answer 14

Groups which have a special relationship to the government & decision makers. They are consulted on changes to the law, & have access to ministers & civil servants.

Question 15

What’s an outsider pressure group?

Answer 15

When groups choose/ can’t access the government easily.= actions designed to gain public attention to put pressure on the gov’t.

Question 16

Roles/ abilities of pressure groups:

Answer 16

Negotiation
Creating legislation
Lobbying MPs
Petitions
Strikes

Question 17

Another name for all the eligible voters in a country?

Answer 17

Electorate

Question 18

The alternative name for the Representation of the People Act 1867 ?

Answer 18

Second Reform Act

Question 19

What’s the idea that in representative democracies, your views are ‘filtered’ by your representative who decides on your behalf

Answer 19

Mediated

Question 20

What is a publication before an election outlining a party’s intentions

Answer 20

A manifesto

Question 21

The right to exercise power?

Answer 21

Legitimacy

Question 22

When the government feel like they have the permission from the voters to carry out their policies, it is called?

Answer 22

A mandate

Question 23

What makes pressure groups successful/ and what doesn’t?

Answer 23

-Large membership – the largest pressure groups are also some of the least challenging to the government-less organised.
-Government resistance – if public opinion can be changed, then the government is forced to back down
Public dislike of the goals – can still raise awareness for people who are interested in the issue

Question 24

The ability to approach government ministers or civil servants?

Answer 24

Access

Question 25

A person employed to approach MPs or ministers on behalf of groups or companies?

Answer 25

Lobbyist

Question 26

Political parties currently represented in the house of commons?

Answer 26

Reform UK, Plaid Cymru, Greens, Sinn Fein, DUP, Labour, Conservatives, Lib dems etc.

Question 27

What is the UK’s largest pressure group by membership?

Answer 27

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)

Question 28

When was the human rights act passed, which brought the treaty The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into act, and who had promised in their manifesto that they would make it?

Answer 28

It passed 1998 and labour promised.

Question 29

Which nation in the UK do the major political parties not put candidates up for election?

Answer 29

Northern Ireland

Question 30

Name a causal pressure group:

Answer 30

-Greenpeace -the RSPCA -Just Stop Oil

Question 31

What is direct democracy?

Answer 31

a form of democracy that is based on the direct, unmediated and continuous participation of citizens in the tasks of government.E.g. ancient Athens.

Question 32

What is representative democracy?

Answer 32

limited and indirect form of democracy. It operates through the ability of representatives to speak for, or act on behalf of, the people.

Question 33

What happened during the great reform act 1832?

Answer 33

Granted the vote to some new categories of people in the counties, including tenant farmers and smaller property holders. The electorate increased to an estimated 650,000.

Question 34

What changed during The Representation of the People Act 1867 (The Second Reform Act) ?

Answer 34

Borough householders, e.g. shopkeepers, tradesmen, could vote

Question 35

What changed after The Representation of the People Act (The Third Reform Act 1884?

Answer 35

Rural houseworkers, e.g. farm workers,miners etc were put on the same foot as borough households.

Question 36

What changed after The Representation of the People Act 1918?

Answer 36

All men over 21 and women over 30 enfranchised (can vote). 75% of adult population could vote now.

Question 37

What changed after The Representation of the People Act (Equal Franchise Act) 1928?

Answer 37

Terms for men and women equalised, both men and women could vote at 21.

Question 38

What changed after the representation of the peoples act 1969?

Answer 38

The voting age reduced to 18, reflecting changes to society, and adulthood.