democracy and participation: suffrage evidence

tactical voting rate?

22% in 2024, according to yougov

turnout?

59.7% in 2024

Athens participation

about 20% of people were able to participate - women and non citizens couldn’t

discussing politics rate?

49% of people discussed politics less than once a month in 2019

trust in politicians?

9% trusted them to tell the truth in 2023 - harmed by scandals like party gate and the mps expenses scandal

parliament privilege

hoc is 23% privately educated compared to 7% overall and 40% women

brexit governed by experts counter

75% of mps opposed Brexit but 52% voted to leave. now 55% of people think it was a mistake and 11% think it was more failure than success

turnout in the past

from 1945 to 1992 turnout rarely went below 75%, high of 85% in 1950

turnout among disadvantaged groups

2024 - approximately 37% of 18 - 24 year olds voted in 2024, 47% of C2DE, 43% of ethnic minority voters (ipsos mori)

devolved govt established

1998

vote in Northern Ireland

Good Friday agreement in 1998, 81% turnout

vote in scotland

independence referendum in 2014, 85% turnout

uk wide vote

brexit 2016, 72% turnout

devolved election turnout

47% in Wales 2021, 63% in scotland 2021 (usually around 50%)

referendum low turnout

50% for welsh devolution referendum, 33% for London mayor and assembly referendum

party membership change

4 million members and 9% of population in 1953, 1 million and 1% of population in 2019

trade union change

13.2 million in 1979, about half of all employees. 6.7 million in 2023, about a quarter of all employees

membership of smaller parties

in 2019 - 49,000 greens and 125,000 snp

environmental group membership

139 environmental groups in 2013 had 4.5 million members - 1 in 10 adults

national trust

over 5 million members

rspb

over 1 million members

amnesty uk

over 600,000 members

blm protests 2020

over 200,000 protesters

anti war protests

2003, about 1 million protesters

boycott successes Israel

AXA - insurance company, sold shares in Israeli banks and the biggest Israeli military company

puma - stopped sponsoring Israel football association

petitions success

change.org claims one campaign is successful every hour

other kind of participation used by young people

clicktivism - posting and sharing content

unsuccessful petitions

a petition to stay in the eu got 6 million signatures and was debated but unsuccessful. A petition to stop donald trump from making a state visit in 2017 received over 1.8 million signatures but was unsuccessful.

how are 16 and 17 year olds not full adults?

most live at home, most are in full time education, most don’t work,

argument not to lower the voting age compared to men and women?

16 and 17 year olds aren’t being denied the vote permanently, only temporarily

participation for 18 - 24 year olds

less than 50% in 2019

problem with 18 - 24 year old representation argument?

undermines principle of one person, one vote

policies that have affected young people more

tuition fees introduction 1998 and tripled in 2010, brexit, Rishi Sunak national service for 18 year olds policy, not enough done about child poverty

how are 16 and 17 year olds adults?

can leave full time education, can consent to sex and medical treatment

16 and 17 year olds active in politics

20,000 young people in youth councils, over 300 elected members of youth parliament

turnout among different age groups Scottish independence referendum

75% for 16 - 17, 54% for 18 - 24

austria trend for turnout by age

90% for 16 - 17 year olds in austria 2017 vs 75% of 18 - 19 year olds

prisoners voting rights

The echr ruled in 2005 in the hirst ruling  that a blanket ban on prisoners voting contravened the human rights act 1998, which included the right to vote. In 2017, it was changed so that prisoners released on temporary license can vote, but this only applies to a few hundred

reoffending rate with systems that rehabilitate vs punish

82% are arrested again in 10 years in the us, about 40% in sweden and about 30% in spain

echr

The uk chose to sign the european convention on human rights in 1951, a document designed to ensure the rights of citizens and prevent another atrocity like the holocaust. We consented to let the echr tell us what to do.

prisoners voting in Europe

The uk is in a minority position compared to other european countries (many of which are considered more democratic than us) - 18 countries give prisoners the right to vote, 12 partially restrict it and only 13 ban it completely

prisoners stats for deprivation

61% are imprisoned for nonviolent offences and the 10 most deprived ares have 10 times more prisoners than the 10 least deprived areas - fuelled by poverty, failures in the welfare state.

scotland referendums vs elections for representation

Referendums also better represent the views of the electorate - the scottish parliament election in 2011 that led to the independence referendum had a turnout of 50%. The snp won a majority - if the parliament was allowed to decide, scotland would have become independent, but in the independence referendum 55% voted against.

referendums education

media talks about arguments, people are more educated on the eu now

constitutional change legitimation

68% voted against av, 55% of people voted against the scottish independence referendum, 71% of people voted in favour of the good friday agreement - established a power sharing government and gave northern irish people the right to irish or british citizenship or both, 52% voted in favour of brexit

voter fatigue

33% turnout in London mayor and assembly, 50% for welsh devolution. Turnout was lower in scotland in the eu referendum - 67% compared to 72% overall - unusual in such a pro eu part of the country, it could be that people were experiencing voter fatigue due to the recent independence referendum

misleading brexit claims

the leave campaign claimed that we sent £350 million to the eu every week and brexit would mean we would have £350 million more for the NHS. Misleading because we also benefited from eu schemes and received money from them. The government made a misleading claim that families could be £4300 worse off per year from brexit. The real impact would have been lower per household, according to their analysis.

brexit effects

average person is £2000 a year worse off and there are 2 million fewer jobs

brexit legitimacy

only 38% of the electorate voted for it

Switzerland initiative example

in 2016 there was a vote on whether there should be a guaranteed basic income of £1700 a month per adult and £400 a month per child. This received 100,000 signatures and was placed on the ballot, without any support from any major party, but was rejected by 77%

recall of mp rules

If an mp is found guilty of an offence and is imprisoned or detained, if an mp is suspended from parliament for at least 10 days for breaking the mp code of conduct, or if an mp is found guilty of making false of misleading parliamentary allowance claims. If 10% of people eligible to vote in a constituency sign a petition, the mp is removed and a by election is held

recall of mps examples

3 recall petitions were opened from 2015 - 2020. Labour mp Fiona onasanya was recalled for perverting the course of justice and sentenced to 3 months in prison. She was replaced by Lisa Forbes (labour). Chris Davies (tory) was recalled for making false expenses claims and replaced with Jane Dodds (Lib Dem).

initiatives contravening rights

In Switzerland in 2009, an initiative to ban construction of new minarets was passed. This discriminates against a minority and limits freedom of religion, by placing limits on one religion and not others. Women didnt get the vote in switzerland until 1971 because men kept voting against it

uk citizens assembly

In 2018 there was a citizens assembly in the uk on how to reach net zero by 2050. 108 people were chosen by sortition and learned about and discussed how to reach net zero, then voted by secret ballot, producing a report for parliament on what compromises to make to best reach net zero. 

Ireland citizens assemblies

In Ireland citizens assemblies were used on same sex marriage (2012 - 2014) and legalising abortion (2018). After the citizens assemblies there were referendums that led to same sex marriage being legalised and abortion being legalised

problem with citizens assemblies

it is kind of illogical to hold a citizens assembly on an issue that will then be put to a referendum. There will be up to 200 well educated citizens and the rest will not be any more educated than before. The money resources spent on the citizens assemblies would be much better spent on distributing information to the public, so that everyone can become more educated on them. In some issues, the public might be left with lots of misconceptions about an issue.

voting days difference

a study of turnout in elections across 190 countries from 1945 to 2020 suggested that voter turnout is 5 percentage points higher in elections held on Saturdays compared to Thursdays, when the uk holds elections.

online voting student support

85% of students at the uni of Sheffield said they’d be more likely to vote if it was online

online voting estonia

Estonia has had online voting since 2005, in 2023 51% of people voted online

incorrect registration

electoral commission estimated that up to 8 million people could be incorrectly registered to vote at their address

estonia online voting fraud

There is little evidence of this happening in Estonia, but it would still be a greater risk than with paper votes

why don’t people vote?

a guardian/icm poll in 2013 suggested that only 2% of people who don’t vote don’t vote because it it too inconvenient, with most people saying they didn’t vote because parties didn’t represent their beliefs or weren’t trustworthy

2005 labour govt support

22% of electorate, including those who didn’t vote

australia success

Australia introduced compulsory voting in 1924 to combat low voter turnout of 60%, since then turnout has stayed at about 90%

fine for not voting in Australia

about £10

need to make young people vote

Labour tried to appeal to young people more in 2017, and although 18 - 24 year olds voted more, they still had the lowest turnout

required things for public good

jury duty

pros of voting Australia

In Australia, elections are held on saturdays and employers are required to give paid time off so as many people as possible can vote. Polling stations are efficient and postal votes are more commonly used. Polling stations also sell ‘democracy sausages’, hotdogs, often to raise money for schools or community groups

compulsory voting support Australia

70%

does it advantage extreme parties?

About 90% of seats in the Australian house of representatives belong to labor or the liberal/national coalition, the main centre left and centre right parties (2025), and about 90% of seats in the uk commons belong to labour, conservatives or lib dems.