Britain has become a multicultural, diverse society as a result of immigration. Due to this, some areas with high immigration feel as if this threatens them in a way they are unhappy with. Pressure groups campaign for less immigration such as the English Defence League. Alternatively, the immigrants may also feel threatened and they might also feel underrepresented in their new area and homes. They would campaign for their own interest. An example of this is the pressure group Muslim Council of Britain. The two ways immigration affects communities would see a rise in pressure groups to get a change in their favour as they feel passionate about it and therefore looking for a group to represent their issue.
8/10
What are the differences between Direct and representative democracy?
Direct democracy is when all the people in an constituency have decisions on policy and power contrasting to representative democracy where people elect representatives on the constituency’s behalf to make decisions on policy and power.
The most accurate example of direct democracy can be shown in Switzerland and New England (US). In New England the people spend a day dedicated to local issues as a meeting is held in the town hall. Due to the amount of people in a town, turn out for voting is often extremely low as there are so many votes on issues. Referendums happen more frequently in order to change the original decision. It originated in Ancient Greece however in modern day it’s impractical. A lack of leadership causes the vote to be swung in a manipulative manor as it only takes a few amount of people to change the voting outcome due to the low level of participation. In the UK, we’ve had a Scottish referendum and are debating an issue on Europe.
Representative democracy is most common in locations such as the UK. We hold general elections every 5 years in which one person has one vote under the First Past The Post electoral system. We elect MPs who decide on issues for us as it is argued that we aren’t experts in all areas that need voting on therefore we entrust a representative to do it for us. We vote on their manifesto and expect the MP to stick to that. The UK has pluralism to vote on a representative.
Overall, a constituency needs a balance of direct and representative democracy to be as democratic as possible.
7/10
by
thekatyofkingsgmailcom (student)
