democracy and participation

when and how did lincoln describe democracy?

in lincolns 1863 gettysburg address, he described democracy as “government of the people, by the people, for the people”

what type of democracy is the uk? what does this mean ?

-the uk is a representative dmeocracy

-voters elect professional politicans to make decisions on issues. the public does not have the time or political understanding to vote on every issue.

how do voters retain sovereinty in a representative democracy?

-elected politicans are made accountable to the electorate in regular elections. this means that voters retain sovreinty because they decide whether or not to renew the mandate of representatives.

what is the basic principle that a representative democracy relies on?

-the idea that elected politicans should represent the interests of their constituents

- mps spend much time in their constituencies listening to the concerns of the people in public meetings and surgeries.

what should an elected representative NOT be?

-they should not act as a delegate carrying out hte will of others. instead, they need to weigh up feelings of hte people they represent with their partys manifesto and their own understanding of an issue. representatives shoulkd act according to their best judgemnet rather than only following hte voters wishes.

advantages of representative democracy
-what is the main advantage?

-it is carried out by professionals who are required to be well informed about issues and are more likley to make educated decisions than most members of hte public (who may be swayed by emotion, or may not fully understand the complexities of a question)

advantages of representative democracy
-what is an example that backs the professionalness of representative democracy in the uk?

-before a bill is enacted, it will have been drawn up by ministers and civil servants, debated in both the house of commons and hte house of lords, then further anaylised in a committee stage when amendments may be added to it .

advantages of representative democracy
-what is the idea of balance in a representative democracy?

-politicans balance conflicted interests before reaching decisions. this is important in protecting the rights of all citizens, (especially minorities) and ensuring that the impact of decisions for all members of hte community are examined

. over controversial issues, parliament balances the benefits to the majority with the more negative impact on hte minority; this sort of balancing is one of hte key elements of a representative democracy.

advantages of representative democracy
-how do politicans have accountablity?

-a representative democracy also comprises the principle of accountability, which means that in regular elections hte voters can decide wheterh to renew the mandate of representtives.

disadvantages of representative democracy
-what is the main argument that critics of rperesentative democracy hold? it has something to do with an elite.

-some argue that mps represent a metropolitan elite that does not rperesent the traditional values of hte population. this can mean that mps can be disengaged from the public and so do not represent their interests.

disadvantages of representative democracy
-what is an example that backs the idea that mps represent an elite and do not reflect hte thoughts of hte population?

-in the 2016 eu referendum, 52% of the public voted leave, whereas 74% of mps voted remain.

disadvantages of representative democracy
-what is hte idea of a westminster bubble?

-powerful pressure groups, lobbyists and the london media also establish a westminster bubble which disconnects representatives fromissues that are important to constituents.

disadvantages of representative democracy
-what are outside interests? how could this harm representative democracy?

-mps can have outside interests, including second jobs (as long as they declaer them) which chould cause a conflict of interests, and compromise their ability to represent their constituents.

disadvantages of representative democracy
-what is an example of an mp having a conflict of interests due to outside intersts? (farage)

-in august 2024, it was found that reform UKs clacton mp Nigel Farage was earning over 1 million pounds a year from work outside of parliament.

disadvantages of representative democracy
-what is an example of an mp resigining due to conflict of interests?

-in 2021, owen paterson resigned as an mp after he was criticsed by the commissioner for parliamentery standards for lobbying on behalf of companies that employed him.

disadvantages of representative democracy
-what is the argument against representative democracy that links to voting systems?

-some argue that the parliament is unpreresentative due to first past the post.
as a result of fptp the tory and labour parties dominate the house of commons at the expense of smaller parties such as lb dems, greens and reform, which have struggled to gain rperesentation even when they have polled hihgly.

disadvantages of representative democracy
-what other chaamber of parliament further makes it unnacountable?

-the house of lords is unelected and unaccountable to the public, furhter undermining parliament representative funciton.

disadvantages of representative democracy
-what is a critique of representative democracy in terms of social makeup?

-the social makeup of parliament is still primarily white, male and middle class.

what is a counter argument to hte idea that parliament is socially exclusive?

in 2024, the public elected the most diverse house of commons in british history, with black, asian and ethnic minority lawmakers making up 13% of the house of commons.

-in 2022 Rishi Sunak also became hte first ever british asain priminister.

disadvantages of representative democracy
-in terms of class, what is a disadvantage of representative demoracy?

-what is a counterargument?

-the social backgroud of mps is much more middle class than it was in 1945. 85% of mps have attended university and 19% graduated from either oxford or Cambridge

-some argue that mps don‘t need to share characteristics as the population to represent them. for example, legislation advancing lgtbq rights has been passed by mostly heterosexual parliaments, such as the 1967 sexual offences act and the marriage act of 2014

what is direct democracy?

-a form of democracy in which decisions are mady directly by the public without their opinions being channeled through reperesentives. in a direct democracy there is no distinction between governemnt and citizem. instead, there is a contitnious engagement in the democratic process.

why would direct democracy be impossible in the uk?

-with over 40 million voters in the uk, it would be impossible for it to be completley governed according to princples of direct ddemocracy. (however, recently some elements of direct democracy have been introduced in the uk)

referendums
-what are referendums? what are some examples (include results)

-referendums allow the public to express views on single issues.

-in 2014 scottish indepdence referendum, 55.3% voted in favour of scotland remaining in the uk, and 44.7% voted for indepdence.

-in the eu referendum in 2016, 52% voted in favour of leaving the eu and 48% voted in favour of remaining

referendum
-what are hte advantages of referendums?

-helps settle controversial issues
-since hte public have voted, the result can calim greater legitmacy than decisions made by representatives

referendum
-what are the disadvatngages of referendums?

-the public likley lacks detailed understanding of issues.
(google trends data found that questions such as “what is brexit” or “what is the eu” started being googled in mass follownig the brexit vote.)
-the ongoing debate over scottish indpedence and the uks relationship with the eu suggests that referendums dont solve contentious issues.

epetitions
-what is an epetition? whats an example?

-if a petition on the government website reaches 100,000 signatures it will be considrered for debate in either westminster hall or the chamber of hte house of commons. this does not mean that legislatoin will be passed.

-however it does mean that parliament will have to enage with issues the public feels strongly aboiut.

-in 2021 several important issues were raised by e-petitions such as making it a legal requirement for night lcubs to search guests on entry.

epetitions
-whats an example of a successful, impactful e petition?

-in 2020 engalnd footballer marcus rashfords hashtag end child food poverty gained over 1.1 million signatures, gneerating huge public enthusism and persuading government to comit to free school meals for low income families during school holidays.

epetitions
-what are disadvantages of e peititons (include example)

-e petitions can raise false expetations and consume parliaments time.

-there are issues which parliament cannot legislate (an e petitions to revoke sir tony blairs knighthood gained more than 1 million signatures but was rejected because knighthoods are bestowed by the monarch)

-there was also an e petition demanding article 50 be revoked so that the uk would remain in the eu gained 6.1 million signatures in 2019.

consultative exercises
what are consultative exercises? whats an example?

-these can be set up wen governing bodies wnat to assess the likley reaction to their proposed policies. communities that will be affected have been consulted over the expansion of heathrow, and hte hs2 rail link.

consultative exercises?
what are the advantages and disadvanatages of consluttative exercises?

-these provide an important way of engaging with the public on issues that directly affect them. however, since they are consultative exercises, the publics opinion is not binding. critics further claim that the most socially disadvantage groups are least likley to engange.

open primaries
-what are open primaries? whats an eample?

-in open primaries, the public directly decides who the candidate should be. david cameron encouraged these.

-13 conservative candidates were selected this way for the 2015 general election. however, for the 2019 general election the tories only selected one of their candidates through an open primary.

open primaries
what are the advantages of these?
-whats a possible disadvantage?

-if the public have influence over who the candiates will be, people less affiliated with parties are more likley to enter politics

-however, this could lead to issues. sarah wollaston was the first tory candidate to be selected this way in 2009. she was very independent minded and eventually left the party to join the lib dems.

election of the leadership of political parties
-what is this? whats an example?

-all main politcial parties now allow their members to decide who the leader of the party will be.

-in 2022, lizz truss defeated sunak for leadership of the tory party by 57% vote.

-starmer was elected leader of the labour party in 2020 with 56% of the vote

election of the leadership of political parties
-what are the advantages?

-makes leadership accountabile to the whole party

election of the leadership of political parties
-what are disadvantaes?

-gives too much influence to party activists, who are generally more radical than the electorate

-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 confiedence in him by staggering 172/40 votes. although liz truss policies were very ppular with party members they were divisive among tory mps, leading to political chaos and resignation after only 45 days.

recall of mps act 2015
-what is this act? whats an example?

-if an mp has been imprisoned, suspended from the house, or convicted of making false expenses claims then a recall petition signed by a minimum of 10% of consitutents can trigger a by election.

-in 2019 the peterborough mp fiona onasanya was sentenced to a 3 month jail term for perveting the course of justice. 25% of voters demanded her recall and she did not contest the by election.

-in 2019 chris davies was convicted of making fraudulent expenses claims. 19% of registered electors of brecon and radnorshire signed a recall petition. davies contested the by election and lost.

election of the leadership of political parties
-what are advantages/ disadvatnages?

-power of recall makes mp acountable ot their constitunets in matters of serious misconduct or illegal behaviour. however, the circumstances in which it can be activated are so extreme that critics argue the impact has beeen neglibile..

what are the advantages of direct democracy?

-makes politicans more responsive to what people really think, establishing closer connection between public and decision making
-provides public more oppurtitniutes to make decisisons it creates greater engagement, encourging a more politically educated and involved citizenry

-ensures representatives are kept better informed of developing public attitudes.

-what are the disadvantages of direct democracy?

-referendums dangerously simply questions to a binary yes/no
-the uks departuere from the eu raised higly complicated issues such as the uks relationship with eu customs union and hte single market, and the broder status of northern irelnad

-none of these issues were addressed in the 2016 referendum, which posed only this question “should the united kingdom remain a member of hte european union or leave the european union”

-a direct democracy can challenge the burkean principle that representaitves should act according to their consience, not wishes of constituents. theresa may supported remian in 2016 but went on to lead a government committed to withdrawing from the eu.

-the public is not informed

public trust in mps (particpation crisis)
-how can mps exploit their public posistion for private gain?

-in 2009, mps colelctivley were held up to contempt and redicule over allegaints they were overclaiming on their expenses.

-in 2010, former labour minister stephen byers, was secretley filmed telling a consultancy firm that he was like a “cab for hire”.

-in 2021, tory minister own paterson resigned as an mp after the house of commons standards committee suspended him for 30 days for an “egregious case of paid advocacy”

public trust in mps (particpation crisis)
-how has media interest in mp corruption stories fueled disengagement?

-in 2021 a yougov poll showed that 80% of those surveted believed there was a fiar or significant amoun of courrpution in uk politics, with just 1% saying there was no corruption.

voting turnour (particpation crisis)
-how has voting turnout changed over the years?

-74.5% between 1964 and 1997
-decreasedto just 59.4% in 2001 when blair government seemed almost certain of being re elected given its strong record on governing competence and william hagues uninspiring leadership of the tory party

-in the next 4 general elections more pressing issues were at stake and voting increased, reaching a highpoint of 68.7 in 2017

-however, average turnout in general elections from 2005 to 2019 was 65.7%, which was 8.8% less than from 1964 to 1997. this suggests a concerining downward trend.

votimng turnout (particpation crisis)
-what is the link between class and the participation crisis?

-politicla engagement is least likley from the most socially disadvantaged.
-in the 2019 general election, 68% of A/B voters boted, but only 53% of D/E. 3/5 constituents with the lowest turnout in the election were in kingston upon hull, where 45% of neighbourhoods are the most deprived 10% in england.

party membership (participation crisis)
-how has party membership dropped?

-over 1 million labour members in 1953
-almost 3 million tory members in 1953

-around 360,000 labour members in 2024
-around 130,000 tory members in 2024

party membership (no participation crisis)
what it a criticism of the claim that a decrease in party membership constitutes to a participation crisis?

-does not necessarily indicate a partificpation crisis. Modern voters are less likely to fully identify with one party due to partisan dealignment, and therefore have less motiviation to join one.

(no participation crisis)
-what is an example of engagement in referendums?

-2014 Scottish referendum recorded 84.6% turnout
-increase of 7.6% in voting from the first to second referendums on UK’s eu membership

(no participation crisis)
-what is an example of engagement through e petitions?

-6.1 million people signed the ‘revoke article 50 and remain in the eu’ petition in 2019.
-in 2021, parliament debated a variety of e-petitions ranging from the protection of hedgehogs to revoking the television liscence

(no participation crisis)
what are examples of engagement through protest?

-thousands marched in london in 2019 to demand UK remains in the EU
-100,000 joined protests in Glasgow during the COP26 climate change conference in 2021
-in 2003, 1.5 million protested in london against UK involvement in Iraq.

(no participation crisis)
-what are examples of engagement through social media?

-Biggest Twitter account in the UK in 2021 was BBC Breaking News.
-in 2022, the UK primeminister Twitter account had 5.8 million followers
-Corbyn had 2.4 million
-Farage had 1.6 million

Democratic reform
-how have epetitions reformed democracy?
-what is a crticicism?

-Introuces a principle of direct democracy, making parliament debate more focused on issues important to the public

-some suggest that they could be more powerful if they automatically trigger a parliamentery vote. However this would provide government with less time to fulfil the promises it had been given a mandate to fufil.
-petitions also often ask for changes that parliament had already decided on, such as a 2021 petition which demanded HS2 to be stopped.

Democratic reform
-how has the recall of MP’s Act 2015 reformed democracy?

-what is a crticism?

-allows voters to trigger a by election if 10% of them sign a petition

-however circumstances when this can happen are extreme - MP needs to be either sentenced to prison, suspended from the House for at least 10 days, or convicted of making false parliamentary allowance claims.

Democratic reform
how can further devolution reform democracy?

-what is a criticism?

-it can be argued that further devolution would grant people greater self determiniation. Scottish and welsh parliaments, along with elected mayors show how decision making can be brought closer to the public.

-however turnout is low. There is little enthusiasm for an English Parliament. in 2004, voters in the North East were given the opporutinity to elect their own regional assembly, only 22% voted in favour of it.

Democratic reform
what are the democratic issues with the house of lords?

-unelected, membership is appointed and there are claims that this can encourage political cronyism.
-Boris johnson appointed 86 new life peers, the majority of whom were conservatives, incuding former conservative Party treasurer Peter Cruddas, who is a major donor to the Conservative Party.

-Johnson also appointed Harry Mount. author of ‘The Wit and Wisdom of Boris Johonson’, to the House of Lords Appointments Commission

Democratic reform
-what is an issue to democratic reform to the house of lords?

-lords could become a rival to the commons, creating constitutional gridlock, which would be unlikely to make representative government more popular. Lack of trust of MP’s and low turnouts for commons elections shows that iti s difficult to belief that providing another elected chamber would encourage more voter participation

Democratic reform
what are the crticisms of FPTP?

-discourages voting beause it limits voter choice
-over rewards Labour and Conservative parties, making it more difficult for other parties to gain representatino

-replacement of FPTP with a proportional system would create fairer connection between the votes a party recieves and its representation in Parliament.

arguments for compulsory voting
-what is the argument in relations to political apathy?

-political apathy is a problem in the uk
-in the 2024 general election turnout was 59.8%. in 1992 it was 77.7%
-limited numbers of people voting can undermine legitimacy, especially if turnout fell below 50%.

arguments for compulsory voting
what is an argument in terms of class?

-those not voting are often from the poorest groups in society, D and E voters. compulsory voting would mean that politicians would have to be responsive to all shades of political opinion.

arguments for compulsory voting
what is an argument in terms of education?

compulsory voting can get people to educate themselves more on political issues

arguments against compulsory voting
what is an argument in terms of rights?

people have the right to choose whether or not to vote. It is the role of politicians to mobilise public enthusiasm by providing reasons to vote. Compulsory voting would remove the incentive for politicians to engage with the public.

arguments against compulsory voting
what is an argument in terms of liberalism?

extension of power of the state over the individual ought to be resisted since it limits our right to act in the way we wish. The British state has traditional intervene as little as possible. National service for example, is voluntary.

arguments for votes at 16
-what is an argument in terms of responsibility?
what did david linden say?

at 16, young people can exercise significant responsibility:
-sexual relations
-pay tax
-national insurance
-join the armed services
david linden said “that is the ridiculous situation we are in: we ask young people to pa tax to a government spend it on the healthservice or going to wa, but the o no have the ability to influence the government”

arguments for votes at 16
what is an argument in terms of scotland?

the 2014 scottish independence referendum demonstrated huge engagement by 16-17 ear olds.
-75% of this age group voted, and according to ruth davidson, former leader of the scottish conservatives “the democratic effect turned out to be entirely positive”

arguments for votes at 16
what did jim mcmahon say about votes at 16, in regards to scottish policy?

“for our united kingdom to be truly united […] we must have democratic equality”

arguments for votes at 16
what is an argument in terms of citizenship?

-introduction of citizenship lessons into the school curriculum means that young people are now better informed about political affairs.

-aallowing young people to vote earlier will encourage them to take duties as citizens earlier, especially as these habts can be developed while they are at school

-national citizen service is encouraging young people to ahve a stake in society, which would be further entrecned with voting at 16.

arguments for votes at 16
what is an argument in terms of activism?

-most local education authortiies hold election for the uk youth parliament, which has been praised for its positive campaigning.

-large numbers of 16-17 year olds have also demonstrated

political activism through issues such as black lives matter and environmentalism.

arguments against votes at 16
-what is an argument about stakes in society?

-most 16-17 year olds are in full or part time education. they are therefore less likely to pay tax and do not have the same stake in society as those who are older.

arguments against votes at 16
what is an argument about youth turnout?

-turnout for 18-24 year olds is lower than other age groups, so allowing 16-17 year olds to vote could worsen the problem.

-the isle of man enfranchised 16-17 year olds in 2006, in every election since then the voting turnout has decreased, with 46% in 2021.

arguments against votes at 16
what is an argument in terms of manipulation?

16-17 year olds have few adult life experiences on which to base their voting decisions. they are thus more likely to be manipulated online, leading to a rise in extreme ideological parties.

arguments in favour of prisoner voting
-what is the echr argument?

-John Hirst claim to prisoenr voting was dismissed by the judiciary in 2001. in 2004 the e court of human rights declared that the blanket ban on prisoner voting was contrary to article 3 of the first protocol of the echr:

“the right to elections performed by secret ballot, that are also free and that occur at regular intervals”

arguments in favour of prisoner voting
-what is an argument in terms of pressure groups?

presusre groups sucha s liberty and howard league for penal reform support prisoner voting.

arguments against prisoner voting
what is an argument in terms of support?

unlike votes at 16, there has been little public pressure for prisoner voting.
-it was debated in the HOC in 2011 and gained cross party condemneation.
234 mps voting aganist, 22 in favour.

what are examples of concessions to prisoner voting?

-in 2017, the government allowed small numbers of prisoners on day release the right to vote.

-scotland allows prisoners serving less than 12 month sentences to vote in teh scottish parliament and local elections.

when and what was the great reform act?

1832, enfranchised some members of the middle class.

when and what were the new reform acts?

reform acts of 1867 and 1884 increasingly opened the vote to working class householders in the boroughs then the counties.

when and what was the ballot act?

1872, made secret voting compulsory

when wast he NUWSS established? what was it?
were they successful?

in 1897 the national union of women’s suffrage societies (suffragists) was established by millicent fawcett to lobby parliament to extend the franchise to women.

-their efforts were not sufficient for more militant women

when was the WSPU established? what was it?

-in 1903 emmeline pankhurt established the women’s social and political union - the suffragettes.

-they used the slogan ‘deeds not words’. the suffragettes engaged in disruptive and more violent action to draw attention.

-when imprisoned they went on hunger strike. in 1913, emily davidson was killed when she tried to run in front of the kings horse in the derby.

what happened for women during ww1? |
what were the first 2 representation of the people acts? when?

-women performed vital work in factories, and 80,000 served as non combatants in the army.

-in 1916 male conscription was introduced and almost 750,000 men were killed in combat. in 1918, the representation of the people act allowed all men 21 and over, and women aged 30 and over who fulfilled a property qualification - to vote.this was 40% of women.

-in 1928, a further representation of the people act extended the vote to men and women aged 21 and over.

when and what was the third representatino fo the people act?

representation of the people act 1969
lowered voting age from 21 to 18.

the extensino of universitiy education, greater sexual freedom and easier access to contraception all made this act relatively uncontraversial.

what is a sectional / interest pressure group? what is an example?

-sectional pressure groups represent the intersts of a particular group in societyy
-muslim council of britain
-national union of students

what is a cause / promotional pressure group? what is an example?

-cause pressure groups promote a particular issue
-friends of the earth
-liberty
-members can be drawn from across society

what is an insider pressure group? what is an example?

-an insider pressure group has privileged access to government decision making. the british medical association represents doctors and so possesses specialists information that governments will wish to consult.

-the howard league for penal reform is an impartial organisation that can supply the home office with important information concerning prison reform, policing and youth crime.

what is an outsider pressure group? what is an example?

-outsider pressure groups do not possess access to political decision making, and may even be unprepraerd to work with existing political strucutes they dissagree with.

-a good example is the extinction rebellion, which has carried out several disruptive high profile protests.

what is an example of trade union insider status leading to pressure group success ?

in the 1970s, jack jones, general secretary of the transpot and general workers union was called the ‘most powerful man in britain’

-interests of the trades union congress remain closely aligned with the labour party, and a re likely to exert influence under the labour government.

what are examples of big business insider status leading to pressure gorup success?
-what is an example in terms of tax cuts ?

pressure groups that represent big business gain influence under tory governments:
-institute of directors

pressure groups that favour tax cuts and minimal government:
taxpayers alliance

what is an example of an lgbtq group insider influence?

in 2021 the scottish government consulted with lgbtq+ groups over its plans to ban conversion therapy by 2023.

how does wealth help pressure gorups?

allows them to employ researches, operate offices close to important points of government and arrange meetings with mps.

what are examples of pressure goroups which benefit from wealth?

the cbi represents 190,000 uk businesses employing 7 million people
the cbi employs over 100 policy researches

the institute of directers represents business leadersing it to poperate offices in 12 regions across the uk and the isle of man and guernsey.

how did celebrit leadership help live aid and live eight?

live aid (1985) and live eight (2005) were successful as they were closley associated with singer songwriter bob geldof

how did celebrity leadership help the gurkhas?

in 2009, actress joanna lumley vocally supported the campaign for gurkhas to be granted full rights of residency in the uk.

how did celebrity leadership help lgbtw+ rights?

actor and writer stephen fry has recently provided a public health for the mind mental health campaign for lgbtq+ righsts.

what was marcus rashfrods campaign?

as schools closed in the 2020 lockdown, children on free schools meals were deprived. marcus rashfrod publicly condemned this.

why was marcus rashford successful?

-worked closley with the charity fareshare to provide meals and used twitter to advertise business offering free meals.
-1.1 milliold food poverty e petition
-pictures of rashford and his mother sorting food parcels gained national coverage

what did teh government do in response to rasfhord?

-growing numbers of tory mps supported rashfrod
-the executive announen covid summer food fund and a 170 million covid winter grant scheme for vunerable families.

how did direct action help pressure groups in in extending the franchis?

in 1867, riots in hyde park quickened the pace of parliamentery reform.

how did direct action help pressure grouups scrap the poll tax?

in march 1990, the poll tax riots in trafalgar square undermined an already weak priminister thatcher, contributing to her resigination in november.

-her successer, john major, swiftly abandoned the tax.

what is a counter argument to direct action?

presusre groups who have used direct action recently have been unable to create success.
-just stop oil recieved consiederable online condemnation after blocking off roads, and attacking the stone henge landmark.

what are examples of strike action helping pressure groups?

NUM strike in 1972 led to 21% pay increase for miners by the heath government

since 2022, strikes have continued in the uk in various industrial bodies, in education, healthcaer and transport.

what was the situation with the Automobile association and the royal automobile club?

-both the AA and the RAc were critical of johnsons plans to introduce smart motorways, as they lacked a hard shoulder. according to both organisations, smart motorways increased the risk to drivers significantly.

why was the smart motorways campaign successful?

the groups deployed professional expertise andd insider status to influence policym aking:

-in 2021 the rac report on motoring survey showed 54% of drivers believed smart motoways made them less safe.

-in 2021, the aa and the rac provided specialist evidence to the transport slect committee. the government decided to delay building new motorways for 5 years while saftey impliciations were asssessed.