Liberal Democracy

4 features of liberal democracy

* Rule of Law (AV Dicey distinguished 3 principles within the RoL, 1) a gov limited by established laws, 2) equality under the law, 3) law administered by an independent judiciary)
* Protection of rights eg Magna Carta 1215 and ‘habeas corpus’
* Universal suffrage with F&F elections eg Electoral Commission monitors and adjuciates elections
* Existence of PPs and acceptance of plurality
* Freedom of press and expression

Despite constitutionalism acting as a legal constraint on coercive state power, how does the uncodified nature of the UK’s constitution government power can be exercised unfairly anyway, in terms of PROTEST LAWS

In Jan 2023 Sunak made an amendment to the 2022 PCSCA Public Order Bill 2022 which broadened the legal definition of ‘serious disruption’ to give police greater flexibility over protest intervention.

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S = the right to protest is ‘not absolute’

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Recieved Royal Assent from King Charles in the days preceding the Coronation which gave police authority to seize ‘not my king’ posters from anti-monarchists and make arrests before their assembly

What did liberal Isaiah Berlin say about pluralism

Those who understood and appreciated other values and ways of life would be much less disposed to discuss ‘experimenters’ and dissenters from majority opinion as ‘cranks and sinners’ or use coercion to insulate existing values from new influences

What did Mill say about pluralism

The desire to understand and empathise with different ways of life is a psychological prerequisite of genuine toleration in society.

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Although repressive intolerance came naturally to man, only a genuine sympathetic curiosity could stand as a bulwark against this inveterate human tendency.

How is the provision of equal and inclusive suffrage important to LD

Rather than seeing people as static, the aspiration of democraticisation is promoting inclusiveness and expanding the public sphere to include the entire population. Rep dem means the gov is constantly reliant on the electorate’s support and so they musy endeavour to actively appeal to all sections of society beyond their core in order to secure their premiership.

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Seen in the Con's recent hostililty to migration. esp during the eu ref, migration was arguably the most deciding factor especially amongst the white working class demographic