c) Why might the UK be considered a democracy?

A) Define democracy.

Democracy is a political system in which ultimate sovereignty belongs to the people. This is most often achieved by holding free, regular, general elections: where the people choose politicians to represent their interests, and make decisions on their behalf, in a political organisation or body. This is known as representative or indirect democracy. In the UK, there was an election in 2010 where the Labour Party gained 36% of the vote and the Conservative party gained 47% of the vote.

To be successful, a democracy also needs to contain political bodies that limit or “check” the government’s power. Also a democracy usually subscribes to the idea of political equality. All members of the electorate are given the same amount of political power. In the medieval times, in the UK, the amount of votes you had was reflective of your standing in society; in modern UK politics, all members of the electorate have one vote.

B) Explain three differences between direct and indirect democracy.

The most fundamental difference between direct and indirect democracies is the nature of what the people vote for. In a direct democracy, all people vote on each individual political decision, while in an indirect democracy, the people vote on politicians to make political decisions for them. This is often referred to as representative democracy. A representative democracy is arguably less democratic as the politicians may make decisions that the people (or electorate) do not endorse.

There is also a logistical difference between direct and indirect democracy. It is far more difficult and expensive to organise a direct democracy. It would notionally take far longer to make any political decisions. In an indirect democracy, because there are only a small number of politicians (650 in the UK), decision making becomes far more efficient in terms of time and money.

Some argue that the relative democratic level of direct and indirect democracies is also different. It could be said that direct democracies would produce results that are more representative of what the people want. This is because the decisions are made by the people, and are intrinsically democratic. There is a possibility, in indirect democracies, of miss-representation: that politicians may make decisions that the people disagree with.

c) Why might the UK be considered a democracy?

One reason why the UK is a democracy is because there are free and regular elections. Elections allow the electorate (the people) to remain as indirect sovereign. This is because the politicians elected into Parliament have been directly chosen by the people and represent the same beliefs as their electors. Regular elections also allow the electorate to remove a government that they judge to be inadequate. In the 2010 election, the people chose to remove the unpopular Labour Government; showing that the people still had ultimate political power, making the system more democratic. Additionally, this constant threat of removal goes to stop the current government from becoming corrupt: they are wary of the people’s power and are more likely to do what the people want.

Another reason why the UK could be considered a democracy is because it has a Parliament. Parliament is a political body composed of 650 politicians (Members of Parliament) that represent the electorate. Parliament has the power to block legislation presented by Government, and thus serves to limit governmental power. This makes the UK democratic because it stops Government from gaining total political power and becoming corrupt: it keeps the power with the people. There are also other bodies that serve to check Government’s power. The House of Lords has the power to veto legislation for example, while the Supreme Court can question the legality of legislation, and force Government to withdraw it.

A third reason why the UK is a democracy is because it has a large number of Pressure Groups. Pressure Groups help democracy because they serve to represent people’s views with a very specific focus. They also give the people a great deal of choice in their political activity: giving them more political power. Pressure Groups also serve to stop the “tyranny of the majority”, meaning that they represent the interests of smaller social groups that may become marginalised without them. This ensures that the opinions of each member of the electorate is equally heard, reinforcing democratic equality. Additionally, Pressure Groups help prevent the “democratic deficit” – the time of low participation between elections. This is because they allow the electorate to constantly make their wishes clear to the Government through things such as demonstrations. In May 2010, members of 38 Degrees picketed the Local Government House; demanding the Liberal Democrats to fight their coalition partners in the bid for parliamentary reform.

There are also many other reasons why the UK could be considered democratic. Human rights protection – via the Human Rights Act, 1998 – serves as a further check on government and gives more power to the electorate. The fact that the government is “open” (all decisions are published) again, stops the government from becoming corrupt and ensures that it does what the electorate wants. Also, the use of direct democracy with referendums helps the overall democracy of the UK. Direct democracy is directly what the people want, and arguably the most democratic form of government. In 1998, there was a referendum on whether there should be a Mayor of London and a Greater London Authority.

Date: 2016-01-14; view: 786