A + D of Direct Democracy

Engages the Public (A)

• when an issue is introduced to the public they're more inclined to be involved if it affects them.

EXAMPLES:

• Scottish 2014 Referendum had a 84% turnout - 2024 General Election had 60% turnout

• Brexit referendum 2016 had a 72% turnout.

Makes Politicians More Responsive (A)

as the politicians are in control of peoples lives they're more inclined to resolve issues if it would affect how the public perceives them.

EXAMPLES:

• John Locke's theory of Social Contract

Self Intrest (D)

often in democracy there are two prominent majority parties which leads people who want to vote for a minority party to end up not voting as they believe their vote doesn't matter. this often leads to a participation crisis such as the 2024 uk general election as it was very clear that either Labour or Conservative was going to win

Poorly Informed Public (D)

when the public is poorly/incorrectly Informed it can lead the public to make choices to which they might later regret as there wasn't enough information around.

EXAMPLE:

Brexit 2016 referendum., Nigel Farage incorrectly informed the public the result of what would happen if the UK left the EU he promised many things such as Abolish inheritance tax and Cut VAT on domestic fuel

Destabilising to Democracy (D)

the belief which keeps occurring is that governments aren't as strong as they used to be and are no longer are able to serve the people as they should.

EXAMPLE:

In 2021 there was a survey on YouGov which shared the results that 80% believed that there is a significant amount of corruption in UK politics