democracy and participation

benefits of direct democracy (3)

• ensures leaders to be held accountable/no leader, everyone individually accountable
  - encourages people to stay informed
  - citizens have power in decision making

disadvantages of direct democracy (5)

• tyranny of the majority
  - democratic fatigue can cause less participation
  - uneducated could make poor decisions
  - big referendums can cause divisions in society
  - decision making is slower

tyranny of the majority example

In Switzerland, minorets were banned because the Muslim community were the minority in Switzerland

low participation example for direct democracy

2/5 people on average don't vote in Switzerland which is a direct democracy

results can claim greater legitimacy in direct democracy example

in 2014, in the Scottish independence referedndum, 55.3% voted in favour of Scotland remaining in the UK and 44.7% voted in favour of independence

minorities voices are represented example

in 2020, england footballer Marcus Rashford's #EndChildFoodPoverty gained over 1.1 million signatures, persuading the government to commit to free school meals for low - income families during school holidays

what is a representative democracy

an individual selects a person (and/or political parties) to act on their behalf to excercise political choice

benefits of representative democracy (3)

• representatives can be held accountable easier
  - representatives represent minorities as they represent a whole area
  - representatives have a high level of expertise

disadvantages of representative democracy

• MPs disengaged from the pulic & don't represent their interests
  - doesn't encourage education
  - minorities aren’t represented

high levels of expertise in representative democracies example

before a parliamentary bill is enacted, it will have been drawn up by minsiters & civil servants and been debated in both the HoC and the HoL. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 spent 9 months in parliamentary ping pong

MPs disengaged from the public & dont represent their interests example

in the 2016 EU membership referendum, 52% of the public voted to leave the EU whereas 74% of MPs had been in favour of remaining

minorities are not represented in a representative democracy example

in 2018, the Hansard Society estimated that 83% of higher social groups were prepared to participate in politics, compared with 41% for less prosperous social groups. only 2% of homeless people were registered to vote

3 different examples of direct democracy

• a referendum
  - a campaign group
  - a topic will be discussed in parliament if 100,000 people sign a petition online

reasons to show the UK is suffering from a participation crisis (4)

• little trust in MPs
  - Political engagement is least likely from the most socially disadvantaged
  - voting engagement is not encouraged
  - voters are less likely to fully identify with one party because of partisan dealignment and therefore have less motivation to join one

reasons to show the UK is not suffering from a participation crisis (2)

• when issues are sufficiently important to the public they can still vote in large numbers
  - the public may be choosing to participate in politics in different ways

little trust in MPs example

in 2021, according to a YouGov poll, 80% of those surveyed believed there was a fair or significant amount of corruption in UK politics, with just 1% saying there was no corruption 

political engagement is least likely from the most socially disadvantaged example

in the 2019 general election, 68% of A/B voters voted, but only 53% of D/E voters. 3 of the 5 constituencies with the lowest turnout were in Kingston Upon Hull, where 45% of the neighbourhood are among the most deprived 10% in England

voting engagement is not encouraged example

voter turnout in recent UK elections has been noticeably lower than in several other European democracies where voting is not compulsory yet turnout is consistently high. Sweden has a turnout of 80% consistently over the decades

Legitimacy

people who are going to be affected by the policies need to ensure the manifestors and policies protect their best interests

education

people are informed on who they vote for

what is direct democracy

all individuals express their opinions themselves and not through representatives acting on their behalf

3 types of democracy in government

"- legislative - make the laws, parliament
- executive - ""runs"" the laws, cabinet, PM, King
- judiciary - courts, enforcement of law"

RAPPLE

Representation
Accountability
Participation
Power Dispersal
Legitimacy
Education

representation

All groups of people have their views heard and protected

accountability

ensure there is trust in the government

participation

descisions affect everyone so everyone should vote

power dispersal

there has to be groups of people in power to avoid one tyrannical leader