How Democratic is the UK?

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How Democratic is the UK?

One reason for why the UK is democratic is because of elections, and mainly because they are free and fair. This ensures that voters could think for themselves and express their own views at election time. This was supported by the introduction of the secret ballot in 1872 which helped to bring an end to intimidation at election time, the establishment of ‘one person, one vote’ in 1948 so that no one’s vote was valued more just because they are graduates of Oxford and Cambridge, the use of proportional representation in 1997, the establishment of the Electoral Commission in 2000 whose aim was to ensure the integrity and public confidence in the UK’s democratic process, and the proposed introduction of fixed-term parliaments to prevent governments from calling general elections at times in their favour. This is a reason for why the UK is democratic, the electorate.

On the flipside, the fairness of the electoral process has also been questioned, which is a reason which supports the view that the UK is not democratic. One of the reasons for this is because of non-elected bodies. Some key political posts in the UK are not filled through elections. The most obvious examples being the monarchy and the House of Lords, neither of which enjoy democratic legitimacy. Also, the First Past the Post system used for elections to the House of Commons has been criticised for distorting electoral preferences and creating a system of plurality rule. This is when governments win elections with fewer than half of the votes cast. Additionally, the use of postal ballots in general and local elections in recent years has been associated with more frequent allegations of electoral malpractice. This is why the UK is not democratic, because having an entirely unelected chamber weakens the representative role of parliament since the electorate has not voted for them and so they are not necessarily representing the views of the electorate. Again, the FPTP system does not represent what the electorate want. If governments are being elected with less than 50% of votes cast then that obviously means the majority do not want that party to lead the country, less than 50% of people have given consent to be ruled. This is why the UK is not democratic

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However, elections in the UK have become more democratic through the achievement of universal adult suffrage in 1928. In the UK everybody over the age of 18 and without a criminal record can vote free of charge. This entitles citizens to a say in the way the country is being governed. But, the extent of universal suffrage has been questioned which makes it a reason for why the UK isn’t democratic. Until recently, the requirement that people on the electoral register have a home effectively prevented homeless people from voting. Furthermore, members of the House of Lords, imprisoned convicts (although ...

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