Democracy

Democracy – ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’

Main principals

· Representative and accountable government

· Rule of law and equality

· Freedom of speech

Active citizen – someone who has clear views about what they like about the world we live in, and what they would like to change. They want to make a difference to improve things for themselves and others.

Ways to become a citizen

· By birth – if you are born in the UK and one parent is a British citizen or is settled in the UK

· By decent – if you are born abroad and have at least one British parent

· By registration – if you have a particular legal connection with the UK

· By naturalisation – a foreigner can apply to become a British citizen but the decision is discretionary and depends on residence, good character and sufficient knowledge of the English language.

Responsibilities of a citizen

· Paying taxes - Compulsory in the UK

· Jury service - Compulsory in the UK

· Obeying the law - Compulsory in the UK

· National service

· Voting

· Swearing allegiance

· Carring an identity card

· Joining a political party

Rights of citizens

· Right to a Passport

· Right to go in and out of the uk without a visa

· Right to live in the UK

· Right to claim benefits

· Right to work in the UK with no time limit or work permit

· Right to vote in elections and take a full part in the local and national government

Identity cards

· When stopped by police to prove identity

· If involved in an accident

· When claiming benefits or government services

· When applying for a job

Advantages of identity cards

· One card carries all necessary information

· Stops adults with a history of child abuse working with kids

· Identifies illegal immigrants

Disadvantages of identity cards

· Government has too much control of the lives of individuals

· People are opposed to the idea of police demanding identity cards, resulting in people being less willing to help the police

· It will be very expensive to supply the whole country

· An illegal trade in fake cards is bound to develop

Human rights

· The European countries formed the Council of Europe in 1949 to make sure that a European war never happened again.

· They created the European Convention on Human Rights for all European citizens

· They also set up a European Court of Human Rights, so that citizens of any council state could bring up cases to the European Court if they thought their rights had been violated.

It was decided that it would be better if the rights in the convention became part of the law for countries