politics GCSE CCEA unit 1

STV/ PR disadvanatges

process of counting results takes longer under STV, meaning that results cannot usually be declared on the same night as voting took place

a voting system that allows voters to rank candidates is prone to so called "Donkey voting" where voters vote for candidates in order they appear on ballot- not fair or a true representative

leads to more coalition governments that can be more unstable and make decision-making more difficult. Hung parliaments are more likely which makes governing more complex and difficult

elections are more complex. Several different representatives covering the same constituencies are likely to be elected- more confusing so people wont vote

a candidte who comes third in total first preference can end up winning- not fair to candidates

STV/ PR advanatages

The wishes of the electorate are accurately reflected- fewer votes are wasted. Every vote counts- encourages more to vote as there is a purpose

smaller parties gain representation and gain a better say- may be better as they can make a difference

they are useful for divided societies such as NI as theyt ensire a wide range of views are represented in parliament

more choice for voters

tend to lead to coalition governments which have benefits themselves such as conensus decision making- ROI use this system currently fiann fail and fine gael.

seats gained are more closely based on percentage of votes gained- it is a fairer reflection of votes cast

easier for women and people from minority groups to be elected as parties will run more than one candidate in consituentices.

electorate more accurately representing- eg if party gets 48% they 48% of the seats

Features of a democracy

-free speech

-free and fair elections

-free speech

-free trial

-frequent elections

-compromise

Why do we need law?

-protect people

-enforce rights

-resolve conflicy

-keep a society together a severyone is held accountable to the same laws and no one is above the law

-law help keep peace and deter people from acting in away that negatively affects the quality of others

consequences of breaking the law

- a fine

- a warning

- jail time

-house arrest

-community service

- banned from travel

-execution is certain states

execution

execution is when a human being is killed without consent. This can be done in a variety of different ways such as hanging, lethal injections or electric chair. May be used for murder.

coercive instruments- army or police- they can be used to:

maintain internal order

public justice

repel external threats

up hold their potential

democracy

-in a democracy the leader of the party with the most votes is in control, but they still have to answer to their political party and voters.

-political parties represent different points of view and compete for the votes if the electorate. Political power is secured by winning a fair election

-newspapers are free to print the truth and can criticise the government when mistakes are made of if there's a disagreement

-less control over films and books people enjoy

-the government has less control over how people spend their time and what they believe

-protection of human rights

dicactorship

-one leader who has total control over party and country. propaganda and genuiene support will point them as people's hero

-gov tightly controls all aspects of the state and will often ban or tightly control groups and meetings

-completely disregards the rights of individual citizens. gov and state will try to control all citizens through law police spying and force. gov most important in dictatorship

-one party- all opposition is destroyed and banned.

-controls every element of peoples lives like radio, cinema and newspaper

democracy definition

- a government run by people, each citizen has a say or vote in how the gov is run

Direct Democracy definition

where citizens vote on all important decisions

eg GREECE

Representative Democracy definition

most common

people elect representatives to make decisions for them

disadvantages of democracy

-only very wealthy people can afford to run for office, power is in hands of the rich. Boris johnston going to private school, wealthy

-voters often uninformed and dont understand who they are voting for

-not everyone votes

-two party systems like in US give voters few choices

-internal corruption can limit fairness of elections

seperation of powers; ADVANTAGES

- JUDICIAL: courts of law (inteprets and applies law)

-LEGISLATIVE: parliament (enact laws)

-EXECUTIVE: government (implements laws)

in democracy power is divided amongst different branches

as a result no branch or insitution can become so powerful

-limits abuse of power

-ensures different branches control eachother to make them accountable eg: executive is accountable to the legislature through PMQT

-divides power. Balance aims to ensure that no individual or group of people in gov is all powerful, Power is shared and not concentrated in one branch

-essential to democracy as prevents dictatorship

Legislature

-is parliament

-uk parliament spilt into house of commons and house of lords

-main function is to make laws and scrutinise executive

-house of lords doesnt have as much power as house of commons

executive

-led by PM and consists of members of cabinet

-accountable for legisluate

-responsible for daily running of state

-enforces law

judiciary

-judges in court

-independent of both executive and legislature

-interpet laws and resolve disputes

decision making

vital in democracy

healthy democracies are able to promote responsiveness and accountability between insituation experts and citizens

clarity in regards to decision making is vital as people need to be able to decide who is mkaing decisions and see how decisions are being made

-this is why we elect representations to work on our behalf to make important decisions

Layers of gov

-lcoal councillors (councillor CLLR)

-NI assembly (MLA)

-UK parliament (MP)

-European parliament (MEP)

insitutions of gov

EUROPEAN ASSMEBLY

UK PARLIAMENT

NI ASSEMBLY

LOCAL COUNCILS

European parliament- parliament of insitution of EU. Directly elected every 5 years. NOT place where most of our laws come from but it is the place that approves or disapproves EU member states legislation

UK parrliament- made of executive and legislature. Creates most laws for UK. Has control over certain issues such as defence

NI assembly- power to creagte and implement laws here on issues such as education

Local council- range of roles from sorting out potholes to waste disposables

3 MAIN FUNCTIONS IN ALL:

-they legilsate and make laws

-they scrutinise: hold gov to account and make sure they are doing nothing wrong

- they represent- each elect politician represents a certain area

Legislation passed by assembly

the food hygiene raint act: effective as it encourages businesses to comply with food hygiene standards. The requirements to display this rating allows prospective customers to be aware of how well the establishment has met these standards

human trafficking act 2015: prevents human trafficking and supports victims

MPs and MLAs voting

-need to represent their constituent views through voting in the Assemly or HOC but they also represent their party

-vote on a regular basis most times they vote how their party wants them to

-represent the views of their party as set out in the election manifesto. keep their party informed of views of constituents whih may shape future manifestos

-work hard to repsent their constiutents as they are responsible to the electorate who voted them in

EXAMPLE- during canvassing potential MLAs should ask their consituents how they feel about certain issues such as BREXIT, gay marriage and ILA.

representative role of MP/MLA

-MLAs represent their constituency. Every person in a constituency has a representative who is accountable to them and whos einterest they should act- they do this by having a residence in the area, visitng local projects and schools and carry out a consitutency drop in session every friday

-Most MPs hold their surgerises in their constituency to give people an opportunity to meet them and discuss matters of concern. Usually hold them once a week and advertise then locally or onlin.

ways politicians carry out representative role

-helping constityuents fill in forms especially hose are for gov bodies

-writing letters, emails and making phone calls on behalf of constituents to try help them with problems

-helping constituents when dealing with housing, education, health and immigration and other problems

-asking questions in parliament/ assembly about a matter important to a consitutent

-vote in stormont

-"grassroot" politics to make themselves visible to community going to constituents houses and asking questions

-use social media such as twitter polls to engage with consituents

Backbench rebellion

-when MPS vote against their own party

-this can lead to gov defeats in votes of HOC. Recently gov suffered a series of defeats due to backbench rebellion

EXAMPLE: Brexit bill jan 2019- theresa may suffered biggest gov defeat in history when conservative MPs voted against their own gov to defeat withdrawl bill. 118 MPs rebelled- defeated twice more in further backbench rebellions

-can introduce PMB to put forward legislation that is important to them

Legislative role of MP/MLA

-most important role

-in UK westminister is supreme law making body. NI assembly make laws for their own areas but their power is limited as westimister controls them

-councils can make by-laws on minor matters which can be overruled by westminister if necessary

-MPs debate and vote on bills. A bill needs a majority to vote for it to be passed and become a law

-most bills are proposed by executive and as they usually command a majority of these bills will pass (executive bills)

Legislative role an MP/MLA- PMB

a bill introduced by an individual MLA/MP who is not an executive minsiter or sits on the cabinet

-this is a chance for a backbench politican to put forward legislation that is important to their constituents

-difficult to introduce as executive bills take priority

example of successful PMBs (private members bill)

-assaults on emergancy workers offences act 2018 introudced by labour mp chris bryant. specific offence for attacking emergancy workers

example of PMB in NI

HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND EXPLOITATION BILL

role of opposition

-important in UK

-Leader of official opposition:Keir Stammer. Leader picks a shadow cabinet to follow the work of government departments.

-their job is to scrutinise the work of the goverment- they often do this publicly in the commons and it is recorded to be desplayed on the news

-form a SHADOW CABINET which in effect will shadow their cabinet equilbalents and where possible hold them to continual account for their actions

-granted FLOOR TIME to question ministers at ministerial question time and at prime ministers questions

-important opposition comes up with their own policies as alternatibe to those of the government

-should highlight concerns. questions on issues, grill ministers on policy. only by doing so they will gain power.

Opposition new in NI- OPPOSITION BILL

John McCallister's opposition bill has opened up the present situation where the NI ssmebly has its official opposition in the form of SDLP AND UUP. His legislation provided for the legaility of opting out of the executive as well as gaining financial support and designated speaking opportunities

scrutiny role of MP/MLA

QUESTION TIME

-opportunity for MPs and members of the HOL to question gov ministers about matters for which they are responsible. These questiond are asked at the start of business in both chambers and are known as oral questions

-ultimate form of question time takes place in uk PM quesion time- every wednesday at noon for half an hour

-following the anseer the MP then raises a particular issue often one of current political significane

-leader of opposition then follows up on this or another topic being permitted to ask a toal of 6 question

-PM will not know what questions will be asked of them but will be briefed by gov department of potential questions they could be asked

scrutiny role of MP/MLA- COMMITTEES

-vast majority of work takes place in committees

They:

-hold executive of public bodies to account

- provide effectrive and rigourous legislative scrutiny

-highlight key issues and publicing them to a wider field with the view of working towards solutions and action

-ensuring public money (tax) is spent effectively, providing value for money

-they are expected to scrutinise the work of the gov and look at legislation line bye line.

TYPES OF COMMITTEES- PUBLIC BILL

-these deal solely with scrutinising legislation

-they deal with the details of a particular bill

-they recieve devidence from outside organisations and members of public

-evidence is discussed and public bill committe will make a report

-temporary: only called aftyer the certain bill

TYPES OF COMITTEES- SELECT

their role is to scrutnise particular GOVERNMENT/ DEPARTMENTS AND HOLD THEM ACCOUNT

-permanment

-EXAMPLE: EDUCATION SELECT COMITTEEE

-they are designed to oversee work of departments

-job is to investigate whether a gov department is acting appropriately

-they look at the spending of that department, poliices of that department and administration

what is the purpose of elections?

-a formal group decision making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office

-elections may fill offices in legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary and for regional and local govs

-viewed as legitimate and an important factor in society

FIRST PAST THE POST DEFINITION- used in UK

simple voting system that asks for each voter to pick one candidate and the candidate that gets the most votes wins- you need majority

FPTP advantages

-simple to understand

-doesnt cost much to administer

-quick to count votes and work out who had won so results can be declared relatively quickly after polls close.

-allows voters to clearly express a view on which party they think should form the next gov

-ideally suited to a two party system and generally produces a single party gov

-single party gov dont have to rely on support from other parties to pass legilsation

-FPTP voting system encourages broad-church centrist policies and discourages extremist points of view

FPTP disadvantages

-representatives can get elected with small amounts of public support, as the size of the winning margin is irrelvenat: what matter is only that they get more votes than the other candidates

-regarded as wasteful as votes cast in a constituency for losing canddiayes or for the winning candidate above the level if they need to win that seat, count for nothing.

-encourages tactical voting as they will not vote for the candidate they prefer but against the candidate they dislike

-can severely restrict voter choice. parties are more coalitions of many different view points. If the preferred candidate in a constituency has view which a vote doesnt agree with they dont have a means of expressing that at the ballot box.

-LEADS TO SMALLER CONSITUENCES- having smaller constituences often leads to a large number of safe seats, where the party is all but guaranteed re election at each election.

-restricts a constituency's choice of candidate the representation of minorities and women suffer as the safest looking candidate is the one most likely to be offered to chance to stand for election.

STV (single transferable vote) definition

allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference.

-candidates recieve quota to get elected( amount of votes needed in constituency)

-if candidate recieves more than this it is called a surplus which is sused to help elect other candidates.

-ensures every voter can get a say through at least 1 of their preferences.

advantages of referendum

-useful in a direct democracy. they are simple to understand for the public as they are a simple "yes/no" answer. This allows the electorate's opinion to be given clearly

-good for resolving a very diverse issue. They can also increase people's involvement in politics and educate them on politics. This would increase voter turnout in future referendums/ elections

good for solving diverse issues EG GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT, DIVIDED SOCIETIES

-best way for solving difficult issue as government can have no involvment in a referendum- outcome is all down to the people voting

Good because the people get to choose what will impact their future

FOR EXAMPLE A LOT OF POLITICIANS DID NOT WANT BREXIT TO HAPPEN WAS OUT OF CONTROL AS PUBLIC VOTED TO LEAVE

disadvantages of referenda

-cost a lot of money. ROI have spent over 100 million on referendums such as abortion or gay marriage. Candidates have to buy leaflets, posters, bill boards to convince people to vote for them. People also have to be paid to count the votes and facilities need to be rented out for people to go vote in. All these costs add up- money could go to better use elsewhere.

if the question is too complicated to understand people will just not vote-lower voter turnout will not accurately represent the people.

- can be heavily influenced by the media : propaganda, media influncers

-can be good for divided socities but can also divide them even more. EG IF VOTER TURNOUT WAS 49% TO 50 COULD CAUSE CONFLICT AS VOTER TURNOUT SO CLOSE

MEDIA THEORIES

HYODERMIC

USES AND GRATIFICATIONS

CULTURAL EFFECTS

hypodermic -one of the first theroies in the media in the 1920s. states that audience passively reieve all info- eg HITLER USED MEDIA (RADIO) TO INFLUENCE GERMAN POPULATION MAD ERADIOS REALLY CHEAP SO EVERYONE HAD THEM. THOUGHT OF ANYTHING YOU CONSUME YOU BELIEVE, MEDIA IS ALL POWERFUL

uses and gratifications theory- made in 1960s. suggests tht audiences are not passive and people decie what they want to consume based on their values. Example- VOTE LEAVE CAMPAIGN SPENT ABOUT 2.7 MILLION on targeting ads at specific groups of people on facebook

CULTURAL EFFECTS THEORY- states that society is infulucned by the mdia but the medi gradually influences audience on their cultures and backhrounds. EG RESPONSE TO WAR IN UK- 2 PEOPLE COULD CONSUME THE SAME NEW STORY ON THE UK ALLOWING LIMITED NUMBERS ON MAY FEEL ANGRY AS PARENTS ARE IMMIGRANTS ANOTHER MAY FEEL SATIFASTIED UK RESOURCES NOT OVERSTRETCHED

how we consume media

95% people have a TV in their home in uk

2019- 14 million instagram users in uk

-news papers

-tv

-radio

average time watching tv- 3.5 hours

HOW POLITICIANS USE MEDIA

-use twitter and instagram feeds to promote election promises. PFP using instagramto take pictures of them in local areas to show they are engaged in grass root politics

adverts- UTV COMMITED TO SHOW 1 ADVERT FROM EACH POLITICAL PARTY BEFORE NEWS

they promote themselves- on local radio for example politicians give their opinion on stephen nolan

what is a PMBS?

a bill introduced by a backbench MP, rather than the government Introduced un both the commons and the lords through a ballot and 10 min rule

reasons for low voter turnout

dis interest/ dont care

cant vote or too young to vote- IMMIGRANTS, PEOPLE UNDER AGE, PRISONERS

weather

dont like the parties

lack of knowledge

disillusionment- parties dont repsent them, dont trust them

do political parties still matter?

YES; they develop common policies

-can easily form a gov

-give public opportunity to participate in politics

-can be held to account for promises

NO:

-many seen as untrustworthy

-businesses and media more powerful

-cost a lot of money: pay employees, could go to better use

Alliance policies- leader NAOMI LONG

economy: stronger focus on productivity and competitiveness issues'

-simplify the payment and administration of income tax and national insurance

Education-

-support integrated education

-advocate a range of alternative post primary pathways

-creater focus on stem subjects

ENVIROMENT

-put tackling climate change at the heart of all policy

-ensure protection of nature and ecosystems

immigration

- remove cap on non eu immigrants

-guarantee the rights of all eu citizens in UK

-regiional flexibility in immigration strategy

does media need more regulation?

NO: OFCOM

IMPORTANT FOR DEOMCRACY

INFORMATIVE

MPS USE IT ALL THE TIME

REGULATED: NEWS AND RADIO

NOT REGULATED: E MEDIA AND SOCIAL MEDIA

DURING COVID DAILY PRESS CONFERENCES

HELD NIXON TO ACCOUNT IN WATERGATE SCANDAL

what is meant by freedom of the press?

-the right of the media to freely circulate opinions in print or electronic media

-no interference from gov