Unit 1 Government & Politics AS democracy and participation questions

• Elected representatives are often better educated and more articulate than the general public
• They have access to relevent research and are able to educate themselves on the merits and demerits of a particular course of action before casting their vote in parliamant
• Representative democracy allows parliament to impliment policies that are necessary but unpopular - the kinds of things that would not secure support if put to a public ballot
• It also allows for joined-up government where individual policies are decided not in isolation but with full consideration of potential knock-on effects for other areas of policy

• Elected representatives often enjoy lengthy terms in office, meaning that they cannot easily be held publicly accountable for the decisions they make
• Many MPs simply toe the party line and do as the whips tell them, rather than thinking for themselves and/or representing the interests of their constituents 
• Representative democracy limits the opportunities for popular participation between elections and contributes to political apathy 
• Representative democracy has a tendency towards elitism - members of the legislature are drawn from a narrow range of social backgrounds and those from different backgrounds, or with less centrist views, are not properly heard

• Elected representatives often enjoy lengthy terms in office. Referendums and recalls make them more directly accountable between elections, thereby enhancing representative democracy 
• Many MPs simply yoe the party line and do as the whips tell them - incorporating elements of direct democracy would remind representatives of who they were elected to serve 
• Conventional representative democracy limits the opportunities for meaningful participation between elections and contributes to political apathy
• Traditional representative democracy has a tendency towards elitism. Direct democracy has the potential to allow people to participate on a level playing field

• Those elected to office are given a mandate to act on behalf of voters. Representatives should not feel pressured into going back to the people in order to seek approval for specific policies
• Elected representatives are often better informed than the general public - it is nonsensical to leave key decisions to the broader public
• Representative democracy allows parliament to impliment policies that are necessary but unpopular - the kinds of things that would not secure support if put to a public ballot
• Representative governent also allows for joined-up government where individual policies are decided not in isolation but with full consideration of potential knock-on effects for other areas of policy

• Referendums encourage participation by allowing citizens to have a real input into key decisions that matter to them
• They provide a way of focusing or renewing the mandate on a particular issue or legitimising major constitutional changes
• They can prevent dangerous divisions within political parties over controversial issues, which prevents gtovernments from collapsing and thereby provides for greater continuity in government
• They can be used to provide a clear and final answer there parliament is deadlocked
• They can provide a means by which tricky moral questions are resolved

• Referendums are inconsistent with representative democracy and undermine the doctrine of parliamentary soverignty
• They can result in a tyrnny of the majority or even a tyranny of an organised minority, where turnout is low
• Excessive use of referendums can result in voter fatigue and declining turnout
• Most issues are too complicated to be condensed into a simple yes/no question
• Different levels of funding and media access between the yes and no camps might mean that the referendum is not played out on a level plying field
• Governments can schedule referendums and phrase questions in a way that makes a favourable result more likely
• Decisions are not always final: governments sometimes go back again and again until they get the result that they want

• Homogeneity: the belief that citizens shared a common heritage and identity; a sense of togetherness that transcended what divided them
• Consensus: where UK citizens accepted the basic rules of the game
• Deference: the idea that people deferred to an elite that was regarded as being born to rule

This is a measure of the willingness of those eligible to vote to register and then actually go out and do so.

• Uk voters are legally required to register to vote, but probably only 90% do
• Turnout at general elections fell from 83.9% in 1950 to 59.4% in 2001, before recovering to 65.1% in 2010
• Turnout at other, second order, elections is lower still

This is concerned with participation in political activity other than voting, for example:

• Canvassing and leafleting
• Organising election events and fundraising activities
• Staffing campaign offices
• Writing to, or meeting, your elected representatives
• Membership and/or involvement in a political party
• Engaging in political protest or organised pressure group activity
• Engaging with, discussing or debating political issues 

• We now have historically low levels of electoral turnout
• And falling party membership

• Increased membership of mainstream pressure groups
• Increased support for involvement in protest movements, consumer campaigns and direct action

• Encourage greater use of postal voting
• Trial SMS text voting and web based voting
• Make voting compulaory
• Lower the voting age from 18 to 16
• Take power away from the executive and unaccountable bodies and give it to parliament and local governments
• Allow citizens a much more direct and focused say over political decisions and policies
• Try to get to the root of the problem by addressing some deeper problems affecting democracy in the UK

• Voting is a civic duty comparable to other duties citizens perform, e.g. paying taxes, compleating jury service
• It fits in with the government's commitment to encouraging wider participation
• Parliament reflects more accurately the will of the electorate
• Governments must consider the total electorate in policy formulation and management rather than simply focusing on those who are likely to turn out
• Candidates can concentrate their campaigning energies on issues, rather than encouraging voters to attend the poll through get out the vote activies
• The voter isn't actually compelled to vote for any single canididate because voting is by secret ballot; they can choose to leave their ballot paper blank or spoil their ballot

• It is undermocratic to force people to do so
• The ill informed and those with little intrest in politics are forced to the polls
• It may increase the number of donkey votes ( votes which are simply numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. in order vertically down the list of available candidates under a preferential voting system) when used alongside a preferential voting system
• It may increase the number of informal votes (i.e. ballots which are compleated incorrectly under a system of compulsory voting)
• It can serve to increase the number of safe, single member constituencies- encouraging political parties to concentrate on the more marginal seats
• It takes time and money to determine if those who have failed to case a ballot have done so for valid reasons

• Multi level government where policies can be developed and implemented by those best placed to understand the needs of the people
• A system of free and fair elections, incorporating a wide franchise and operating under a secret ballot
• Protection of basic rights and liberties under the rule of law
• A wide range of political parties and pressure groups, providing numerous avenues for political participation and representation

• The unfairness of the FPTP system
• The failure properly to reform parliament
• Low levels of voter turnout and widespread disillusionment with other traditional forms of participation
• The rise of (often extreme) single issue pressure groups and groups that seek to destabilise or even overthrow the state
• The absence of a proper seperation of powers and the tendancy towards executive dominance 
• The transfer of government power away from elected bodies towards unelected quangos and free standing agencies
• The absence of a properly drafted bill or rights incorporated within a codified and entrenched constitution

• All but 92 of the hereditary peers have been removed from the House of Lords
• There is a better seperation of powers following the creation of the UK supreme Court and changes to the role of Lord Chancellor
• We now have a Human Rights Act and a freedom of information act
• Devolution, and the introduction of directly elected local mayors in many areas have brought government closer to the people, enhancing local democracy and local accountability
• The increased use of referendums from 1997 has enhanced democracy by giving those changes approved greater legitimacy

• The FPTP system remains in place for elections of Westminster, in the wake of the decisive no vote in the 2011 AV referndum
• The UK is still experiencing historically low levels of turnout at elections
• Lords Reform stalled after 1999 and significant reforms to the House of Commons have failed to materialise
• There has been an erosion of civil liberties since the attacks in the USA in 9/11 and in London on 7/7