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.

how do voters retain sovereinty in a representative democracy?

representatitves are held accountabile via frequent elections. voters retain sovereingty, as they decide to renew or end mandates.

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?

Representatitves are not delegates
-they instead weigh up the views of their voters, party manifesto, and their own views to make decisions on their best judgement.

advantages of representative democracy
-what is the main advantage?

-its carried out by professionals who are likely to be well informed on issues.
-they can make more educated decisions than the public, who can be swayed by emotion. (Brexit 350 million a week bus slogan)

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?

Over conflicted issues, elected representatitves can balances the interests of both the minority and the majority.

advantages of representative democracy
-how do politicans have accountablity?

regular elections are held in a representatitve democracy
-the electorate can end or renew mandates.

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 MP’s representa a metropolitan elite which do not share the same values as the electorate.

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?

MP’s can have outside interests if they declare them. this can create conflicts of interests, harming representation of 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?

FPTP has led to tory and labour domination in the huose of commons.
-lib dems, green and reform have struggled to gain representation even when they poll highly.

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

-the house of lords is unelected and unaccountable to the public

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 hisotry: 13% ethinic minority.

-in 2022 rishi sunak became the first british asian PM.

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 2013

what is direct democracy?

direct democracy sees decisions made by the public without representatitves.

why would direct democracy be impossible in the uk?

impossible due to their being 40 million voters in the Uk. however, 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?

-Public lacks detailed knowledge of issues (google trends data found that “what is brexit” and “what is the eu” were googled en masse following the 2016 vote)

-ongoing debate over scottish independence, and UK’s relationship with the EU suggests that referendums dont fully settle issues.

epetitions
-what is an epetition? whats an example?

-If a petition on the government website gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in either westminster hall or the house of commons. this does not mean that legilsation will be passed.

-parliament however has to engage with issues the public feels strongly about. in 2021 several important issues were raised by e-petitions, such as making it a legal requireement for nightclubs to search entrees.

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

in 2020, England footballer Marcus Rashford’s ‘end child food poverty’ petition gained over 1.1 million signatures, generating huge public support.

-the government committed to free school meals for low income families during school holidays.

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

-epetitions can raise false expecations and waste parlaiments time.

-issues in which parliament cant legislate on (epetion to revoke sir tony blairs knighthood got over 1 million sigs, but was rejected as knighthoods are bestowed by the monarch)

-epetition in 2019 tried to reverse the 2016 referendum, and received 6.1 million signatures.

consultative exercises
what are consultative exercises? whats an example?

consultative exercises can be set up by government to judge the likely reaction to their proposed policies by communities.
-used for the expansion of heathrow, and the hs2 rail link.

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

-they allow the public to engage with issues that effect them

-however they are not binding, and critics claim that the most socially disadvantaged groups are least likely to engage.

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?

-open primaries encourages those less affiliated with parties to enter politics.

however, this can lead to issues. sarah wollaston in 2009 was the first open primary selected tory canddiate, however she was higly independent, 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 is imprisoned, suspended from the house, or convicted of making false expenses claims, a petition signed by a minimum 10% of constituents can trigger a by election under the 2015 recall of MP’s act.

-2019,fiona onasanya MP was sentenced to 3 months in jail for preventing hte course of justice. 25% of voters demanded recall, and she did not contest hte by election.

in 2019, chris davies was suspended from the house for making false expenses claims. 19% demanded recall, and he lost the by election.

2015 recall of MP’s act
-what are advantages/ disadvatnages?

the power of recall makes MP’s accountible to their consitutents in serious matters. however, circumstances are so extreme that its impact has been negligible.

-what are the disadvantages of referendums?

Referendums trivialise questions. the 2016 EU ballot paper was simply “should the united kingdom remain a member of the european union of leave the european union”
-nothing about UK’s relatiosnhip with the customs union, or border status of northern ireland.

-challenges burkean principle that representatives act according to their judgement. Theresa MAy supported remain in 2016 but worked to leave the EU.

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

in 2009, various MPs were accused of overclaiming on their expenses.
-in 2021, Tory Minister owen paterson resigned after being crticised by the commisionor of parliamentery standards for lobbying on behalf of a company he worked for.

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?

Turnout averaged 74.5% between 1964 and 1997, and decreased to 59.4% in 2001 due to the strong competenace of the blair government, and william hagues uninspiring leadership of the tories.


the next 4 general elections saw heightened turnouts due to key issues, reaching a highpoint of 68.7% in 2017. however this is still lower than between 1964 and 1997.

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 counter argument to 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?

-epetitions have introduced a principle of direct democratic reform.

-however, some argue they would be more powerful if they trigger a parliamentery vote. this would however give parliament less time to vote on policy which the governemnt was elected to pass.

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

Democratic reform
how can further devolution reform democracy?

-what is a criticism?

Further devolution can increase the democratic self determination. scottish/welsh parliaments along with elected mayors demonstrate a more direct form of democracy.

-however, turnout is low, and there is little enthusiasm for an english parliament.
-only 22% in the north east voted for a regional assembly in 2004.

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

House of lords is unelected, could lead to cronyism.

-Boris johnson appointed 86 new life peers, including peter cruddas - a major tory party donor.

-Boris Johnson appointed Harry Mount, the author of ‘The Wit and Wisdom of Boris Johnson’ to the House of Lords appointments commission.

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

Lords could rival the power of commons, creating gidlock, which will make representattive government less popular.

-lack of trust in MP’s / low turnouts shows that a new elected chamber will not solve participation issues.

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?

-the people should have the right to choose whether or not to vote.

-polticians should be pushed to mobilise public enthusiasm, cumpolsory voting would remove this.

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 MP said that is is unfair that young people effected by government “ dont 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?

british prisoner John Hirsts claim for prisoner voting was dismissed by the judiciary in 2001.
-in 2004 the ECHR declared the UK ban on prisoner voting as incompitable to article 3 of the first protocol of the echr. the UK ignored the ruling.

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 great reform act enfranchised some members of the middle class.

when and what were the new reform acts?

1867/1884 reform acts opened the vote to working class households in the boroughs then the counties

when and what was the ballot act?

1872 ballot act made secret voting compulsory

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

in 1897 the national union of womens suffrage societies (suffragisits) was established by millicent fawcett
-lobbied parliament to extend franchise to women.

efforts were not sufficient for more militant women

when was the WSPU established? what was it?

-in 1903 emmeline pankhurt established the womens social and political union (suffragettes)

-used militant tactics and slogan “deeds not words”

-when jailed they went on hunger strike
-emily davidson was killed in 1913 after running 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?

.

-in WWI, women worked in factories, and 80,000 served as non combatants. this paired with the death of men in mass led to the 1918 representation of the people act which allowed all men 21 and over, women 30 and over who fulfilled a property quota to vote.

-1928 representation of people act allowed all citizens 21 and over to vote.

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

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



-Extended universtiy education, sexual freedom and contraception for young people made this uncontroversial

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?

-promotional 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?

insider pressure groups have priviged access to government decision making.
-government consults the british medical association for specialist information

-the howard league for penal reform supplies the home office with information concerning prison,policing and youth reform.

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

outsider pressure groups dont have access to government decision making, and they might be unprepared to work with governments they disagree with.

-the extinction rebellion 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 are 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 such as the institute of directos represent big business, and gain influence under the tories.

the taxpayers alliance has pressure tory governments to implementing tax cuts.

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?

wealth allows groups 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 business and employs 7 million people.
-it has over 100 policy researches.

how did celebrit leadership help live aid and live eight?

live aid (1985) and live 8 (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 publically 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 support 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 closely with the charity fareshare, and used twitter to advertise business’s offering free meals

-1.1 million food poverty e petition

-pictures of rashford and his mother sorting food went viral.

what did teh government do in response to rasfhord?

-growing numbers of tory mps supported rashfrod
-the government announen covid summer food fund and a 170 million pound 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 franchise 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 used professional expertise/insider status to influence policy:

-in 2021 the RAC reported that 54% of drivers believed smart motorways are less safe
-the AA and the RAC provided specialist evidenc to the transport select committee. the government agreed to delay the policy for 5 years while saftey implications are addressed.