Democracy and Political Participation

There is a deficit:

• Elections - lack of universal suffrage (Prisoners & Under 18s not able to vote)

• Participation crisis (42% AV referendum, 66.1% 2015 turnout compared to 80+% in 1950s)

• Parliament - House of Lords unelected, not legitimate/no accountability (60 Government defeats this session such as Tax Credits - government has mandate but HoL don't.)

There isn't a deficit:

• Referendums - more common and give people a voice (EU referendum soon, scottish referendum 2 years ago)

• Devolution - local areas given a voice, more political participation (something goes here)

• something goes here (something goes here)

Positives of method:

• Compulsory voting - increased turnout and inrcreasd legitimacy/mandate (93% recent turnout in Australian Parliamentary election, strong mandate)

• Digital voting/democracy - Decreases voter apathy since easier to access information/vote (76.9% turnout in Labour leadership election (which allowed online voting))

• More Referendums - purest form of democracy, political education, limited/responsive govt (something goes here)

Negative of method:

• Compulsory voting (something goes here)

• Digital voting/democracy - limited access to the internet - political inequality (ONS - 10.2% of adults have never used the internet in the UK (as of May 2016))

• Referendums - very expensive, especially in times of austerity (AV referendum cost £75m)