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19 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Democracy and Participation
What are the three features of a Direct Democracy? |
- 'Direct'; people make the policy decisions and do not merely pick who represents them. -'Unmediated'; the people are the government, there is no separate class of professional politicians. -'continuous'; People engage in politics on a regular and ongoing basis
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Democracy and Participation
What are the benefits of a Direct Democracy? |
-Genuine democracy -Personal Development; created better informed citizens -End of professional politics; removes the public's dependance on self-serving politicans -Legitimate government; citizens take responsiblity and are more willing to accept decisions they have made themselves. |
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Democracy and Participation
What are the three features of a representative democracy? |
-'Indirect'; public do not exercise power themselves -'mediated'; Public is linked to government through representative institutions -'limited'; engagement with public is infrequent and breif |
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Democracy and Participation
What are the benefits of a representative democracy? |
- Practicable government; Only form of democracy that can operate in large modern societies. -Government by experts -Division of labour in politics; Citizens don't have the burden of decision making -Political stability; encourages citizens to accept compromise |
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Democracy and Participation
What are the core features of the UK democratic system? |
- Democratic elections; free and fair - Parliament; HoL, Party system, executive control - Pressure groups; voice to minorities
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Democracy and Participation
What are the supplementary features of the UK democratic system? |
- Referendums; diminishes parliament - Devolution; Scotland, Wales and Ireland separately express views -The European Parliament; little policy making influence |
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Democracy and Participation
What are the advantages of Democratic elections? |
- Free and Fair elections; 1872 secret ballot - Universal Suffrage; 1928 equal voting rights for men and women -Electoral choice; ensured through competition between candidates |
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Democracy and Participation
What are the disadvantages of Democratic elections? |
- Non-elected bodies; Monarchy and HoL - The Westminster Voting System; FPTP system, plurality rule - Electoral Malpractice; Postal ballots often accused of malpractice |
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Democracy and Participation
What are the differences between a Majoritarian democracy and a constitutional democracy? |
- Constitutional protects individual / Majoritarian protects society - Constitutional has coalitions / Majoritatian has single party rule - Constitutional has divided sovereignty / Majoritarian has Parliamentary sovereignty |
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Democracy and Participation
Give three examples of a participation crisis? |
- 2010 general election dropped turnout from 75% to 65% - Labour party membership fallen from over 1 million in the 50s to 166,000 in 2009 - By 2007, fewer than 1% of the people in the UK belonged to political parties |
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Democracy and Participation
Why is there a participation crisis? |
- the public; materialist society - the media; created distrust in government - the politicians; only care about getting elected
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Democracy and Participation
Describe 4 ways to enhance democracy? |
- referendums - Lowering the voting age - Compulsory voting - Digital democracy |
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Democracy and Participation
What are the advantages of a referendum? |
- Direct democracy - Political education - Responsive government - Reduced government power - Constitutional changes; ensures democratic legitimacy |
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Democracy and Participation
What are the disadvantages of a referendum? |
- ill-informed decisions - weakens parliament - Irresponsible government - Unreliable views |
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Democracy and Participation
What is the purpose of a referendum? |
- Fulfil pledges made in manifesto's - Provide legitimacy to major constitutional changes - satisfy terms in a coalition government - settle internal party disputes |
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Democracy and Participation
What is democratic legitimacy and how it is obtained? |
Democratic legitimacy is the accepted right to exercise power; achieved through the people and the political framework. obtained through: - elections - referendums - Constitutional practices |
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Democracy and Participation
What are the advantages of lowering the voting age? |
- Same as other rights; can have sex, join army etc - Youth interests ignored - Stronger political engagement - irrational cut off age |
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Democracy and Participation
What are the disadvantages of lowering the voting age? |
- immature voters; haven't completed full time education - preserving childhood - Deferred representation; representation is delayed not dismissed - Undermining turnout |
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Democracy and Participation
What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a digital democracy? |
advantages: - Easier participation - Access to information - More convenient Disadvantages: - malpractice - digital divide |
