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Democracy and participation - Coggle Diagram
Democracy and participation
Types of democracy
Direct democracy
Decisions are made directly by the electorate who vote on specific issues.
The UK referendums are examples of direct democracy,
Citizens of the UK can also set up and sign online petitions which can be debated in Parliament. However, the topic must be approved by the Backbench Business Committee.
People may also protest against government action but the government doesn't have to respond.
Advantages: (1) Citizens become educated on the issues (2) There is increased engagement if people feel they are making a difference (3) Gives the government a clear directive to act (4) Purest form of democracy (5) Leads to transparency and equality.
Disadvantages: (1) Voters are not experts (2) Referendums are time-consuming and expensive (3) The wording of the question can manipulate the result.
The total cost of the EU referendum was £142M
Representative democracy
Elected representative from organised parties make decisions on behalf of their constituents.
There are regular elections to legitimise the government.
There are 650 constituencies in the UK.
The Fixed-term Parliament Act 2011 set the election interval to 5 years.
Advantages: (1) Representatives can make decisions for everyone in society (2) Representatives can find the best compromise for everyone (3) It is more practical than direct democracy (4) Representatives are more experienced and qualified to make public policy (5) The public can hold representatives to account for their actions.
The case for democratic reform
Democratic deficit - the belief that democracy is not working as intended and is failing to ensure sufficient accountability and legitimacy.
Voter turnout dropped after 1997 but has been rising back to the same level.
Election turnout in non-general elections has been very low. 35.6% in the 2014 EU parliament election.
FPTP creates a two-party system. Parties with no large, country-wide support struggle to get seats.
The winning party often receives less than 40% of the vote but wins a majority of seats.
There are safe seats where the winning party faces very little opposition support.
The popular vote may also be split and the winner wins by a fine margin. In Belfast South in 2015, the winning candidate won with 24.5% of the vote.
The House of Lords is unelected and unrepresentative of the UK population but has a profound impact on laws and costs the taxpayer money.
The supreme court is also unelected but has the power to challenge laws.
Types of democratic reform
Compulsory voting - Not voting results in a small fine. Australia has a turnout of 95%.
Change the FPTP voting system.
Allow 16 - 18 year olds to vote.
Remove or modify the House of Lords.
Allow for online voting.
The case against democratic reform
Pressure groups allow the representation of minority interests.
Voter participation is similar to other EU countries.
there is no demand for electoral reform. In 2011, the public rejected the AV system and in 2012 House of Lords reform was rejected by the coalition government.
The media is powerful enough to scrutinise the UK government and inform UK voters.