Unit 1
Democracy
What is a
liberal democracy?
A liberal
democracy is a type of democracy where there is an emphasis on the protection
of individual rights and liberties, where the rule of law is strictly adhered.
Some aspects of a liberal democracy include:
· The government is accountable to the people
to ensure that it is acting in the interests of the people and not a small
minority.
· A liberal democracy enjoys free and fair
elections
· Peaceful and orderly transfer of power from
one government to the next
· Information is freely available to all
citizens
· Losing parties accept democratic legitimacy
of winning parties
· Rights and liberties of citizens are taken
into account and protected
· Powers of government are controlled and
limited either by law or by elected institutions (or both)
· Variety of beliefs, opinions, cultures and
lifestyles are tolerated
To what extent is the UK a liberal democracy? (25)
Free
and fair elections
Positive points
· Elections in Britain are free of corruption
· An independent Electoral Commission
oversees elections to ensure they’re conducted honestly
· All adults (age 18+) have the right to vote
and stand for office
Negative points
·
FPTP, used for general elections, is arguable
unfair as many votes are wasted (50.7, 53% million in 2010) and candidates are
elected with a very small amount of the votes, its become normal for MP’s
·
Minor parties have very little chance of
winning seats due to the plurality aspect of FPTP
·
Over 50% (383) safe seats exist
Rights
and liberties of citizens are taken into account and protected
Positive points
· Human Rights act 1998 – sets out and
enforces the rights and liberties of citizens, an example of a basic human
right is the right to life and the right to an education
· Britain has signed up to the European
Convention on Human Rights
· Britain enjoys freedom of speech
Negative points
· Edward Snowden’s leaks in 2013 prove that
the British GCHQ and American NSA are conducting mass surveillance programs on
millions of citizens worldwide. Millions of peoples human rights have been
violated – ‘the right to privacy’
· When national security is at stake,
Parliament can set aside rights and liberties of citizens
Information
is freely available to citizens
Positive points
· Britain enjoys freedom of information and speech,
little to no evidence exists to suggest the government controls the media,
although some newspapers are owned by political parties such as the Daily Mail
by the Conservatives
· Freedom of Information Act 2000 enables
citizens to freely access information, this was used in 2009 by the Telegraph
in the expense scandal
Negative points
· If requested information under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 is a potential threat to national security, it will
remain classified.
· During times of warfare or when national
security is at stake, the government may implement censorship in the media and
manipulate the news, but this is something that is common in all democracies.
Tolerance
over a variety of beliefs and cultures
Positive points
· Britain is a proud multi-cultural society,
often admired abroad for its tolerant politics and culture
· Pluralist society, a variety of pressure
groups co-exist
Negative points
· Pressure groups are not necessarily treated
equally as some are insiders (British Medical Association) and others are outsiders
(Greenpeace)
· Growing terrorist threats, migration,
asylum seeking have placed such tolerance under considerable strain. With the
exacerbating Syrian civil war, David Cameron has allowed only the most
venerable to seek refuge in Britain
Accountability
Positive points
· Parliament consistently forces the
government to be constantly accountable, requiring ministers to justify their
actions and where necessary, accept criticism
· Prime Ministers Question every Wednesday in
the House of Commons allows the Prime Minister to be accountable
· Select committees are set up to investigate
government departments
Negative points
· Prime Ministers Question isn’t fair, the
prime minister knows the questions beforehand and thus, has time to rehearse
· Perhaps Parliament does not have enough
time, expertise or technical backup to undertake this task effectively
Representative
and Direct democracy
Direct
democracy
A term that
describes a political system or circumstances where the people themselves make
key political decisions, it flourished briefly in ancient Athens.
Direct democracy
isn’t really feasible today. Many more important decisions have to be made and
the population is considerably larger than what it was in ancient Athens where
the voting strength may have just been below 10,000 citizens.
To a certain
degree, direct democracy involves any form of direct consultation between the
government and its citizens. The current Conservative-Liberal Democracy
coalition for example, invited public participation in deciding how public
expenditure might be reduced. Similarly, many local authorities regularly
consult members of their community typically to discuss how their expenditure
and services should be used.
Downing Street has
developed a system of e-petitions whereby the Prime Minister’s office accepts
and responds to email campaigns on any significant issue. If the petition gets
100,000 signatures, the issue can be debated in the House of Commons. So, in
some respects, Britain is becoming a consultative democracy.
Advantages
·
Considered
to be more democratic because people have a direct impact on political decision
making
·
A
wider section of society’s viewpoints are voiced
·
Stops
a small minority ruling in their own interest as seen by Saddam Hussein in Iraq
between 1979 and 2003
·
No
distinction between state and civil society (no need for pressure groups), thus
reducing conflict
·
Enhances
democratic legitimacy of government
Disadvantages
·
Only
suitable for small states
·
Decision
making is too time consuming as everyone is required to voice their opinions
·
Representatives
are arguably better because they are experts in their field, not just ordinary
people
·
A mass
audience can be swayed easily by passionate speeches
·
Can
lead to tyranny of the majority whereby the interests of the majority are given
a higher preference to those of the minority and therefore the minorities lose
Representative democracy
A political system where most decisions are made by elected
representatives rather than the people themselves. It also means that citizens
are represented by individuals and associations, who communicate their demands
and interests to the decision makers, represent people.
Representative democracy in the United Kingdom is often described as a
parliamentary democracy. This is because Parliament dominates the political
system and because representation occurs traditionally through Parliament. The
main features of a Parliamentary democracy include:
1. Parliament is the source of all political
authority. It is impossible to exercise power without the sanction of
Parliament. Even the Prime Minister who enjoys many powers inherited by the
monarchy can only use these powers if they’re supported by Parliament
2. The government of the UK has to be drawn
from Parliament. Its members must be members of either the House of Lords or
Commons. This ensures that members of the government can be made directly
accountable to Parliament
3. The government constantly makes itself
accountable to Parliament. It also means that ministers must report to
Parliament on the progress of policies and the results of government actions
4. Parliament is the guardian of the
government’s electoral mandate. It is Parliament’s task to ensure that the
mandate is not abused and if the government goes against their mandate,
Parliament has the right to veto their actions
5. Parliament is expected to represent the
national interest
Advantages
·
Only
suitable for large states
·
Representatives
are free to concentrate on political and they’re professionals
·
Decisions
can be made quickly because there are less people to hear from
·
Link
between people and government is maintained through constituencies
Disadvantages
·
People
becoming disinterested in politics, lowers political participation and its
evident from the low turnout at the polls
·
Representatives
are only judged or held accountable at a general election which is every five
years
·
Parties
impose their views on their members first, meaning your representative often
acts in the interests of the party’s wishes not yours
·
Representatives
are free to pursue their own interests and thus, may be unsympathetic to public
opinion
·
Tyranny
of the minority
Referendums
A popular vote whereby the electorate are given the opportunity to have
an impact on political decisions. It is Parliament who decides when a
referendum will be held and what the question will be.
List of referendums held in the UK:
YEAR
|
LOCATION
|
QUESTION
|
YES
|
NO
|
TURNOUT
|
2011
|
National
|
Should the system of the Alternative Vote be adopted for
UK general elections?
|
32.1%
|
67.9%
|
42.2%
|
1998
|
London
|
Are you in favor of the government proposal for a
Greater London Authority made up of an elected mayor and a separately elected
assembly?
|
72.0%
|
28.0%
|
34.1%
|
1997
|
Wales
|
Do you agree that there should be a Welsh Assembly?
|
50.3%
|
49.7%
|
50.1%
|
1997
|
Scotland
|
Do you agree that there should be a Scottish
Parliament?
|
74.3%
|
25.7%
|
60.3%
|
Advantages
·
Enhances
legitimacy of government as decisions are made by the people, or because the
people have a direct impact on decision making, subsequently enhancing
democracy
·
Reduces
voter apathy because people will come to realise their decision has an impact
on politics, thus increasing political participation
·
Perhaps
the only chance people have to stop the government from making unpopular
decisions and only chance for public to express their views because general
elections are only every 5 years
·
Some
issues may have too much of an impact on peoples lives that the peoples input
is required before any decision making is made
Disadvantages
·
Decisions into the hands of the
public can prove to be catastrophic. The public are usually ill informed on the
issue in question and may not know what they’re actually voting for, the issue
can also be too co mplex for the majority of voters to understand
·
Public can easily be influenced
by the media and passionate speeches by politicians to vote in a particular way
·
Agenda setting – Parliament
decisions everything, when the referendum will be held and what the question
will be
·
Yes or no answers lead to
oversimplifying political issues
·
If the government gets the
wrong answer, they can simply have another referendum
·
Expensive
Pluralism
Pluralism is a
form of democracy and, in its broad sense, is a belief in, or commitment to
diversity or multi policy (the existence of many things). A pluralist system is
one in which any candidate who wishes to stand for free lections is free to do
so. Power is widely distributed in society; it’s not just situated in the hands
of a ruling elite. Typically in a pluralist state, there will be pressure
groups and a wide range of political parties.
Quangos
Since it was
coined in the 1970’s, ‘quangos’ has become a highly emotive term. For many, it
is a byword for wasteful bureaucracy, patronage and lack of democratic
accountability. It is no surprise that politicians from all sides have
regularly called for reductions in their number, expenditure and influence.
However, achieving this has proven to be difficult.
· There are 766 quangos/NDPB’s
(non-departmental public body) sponsored by the UK Government
· The number has been falling: there was 790
in 2008 and 827 in 2007. The number of quangos has fallen by over 10% since
1997
· Staffing and expenditure of quangos has
increased. They employed 111,000 people in 2009 and spent £46.5 billion, o
which £38.4 billion was directly funded by the Government
The Conservatives
have pledged to abolish quangos “that do not perform a technical funcition or a
function that requires political impartiality, or act independently to establish
facts”. David Cameron has said “there are too many, and they waste too much
money”. The other parties have made similar pledges.
Quangos have
numerous roles such as delivering public services, giving advice or regulating
behavior. They are advisory bodies, which give independent expert advice to
ministers on a range of matters and are watchdogs, which set standards and
regulate behaviour.
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