To what extent is the UK a liberal representative democracy?

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Government & Politics

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To what extent is the UK a liberal representative democracy?

In the UK we have an elected dictator, Tony Blair. However some may argue that the UK system is a liberal representative democracy. So therefore to evaluate I am going to explore this argument.

In the UK the demos directly elect the legislature. This suggests to us that there is direct accountability to the people, therefore the government is accountable to the people meaning that theoretically they listen to public intrest.

There are many examples to illustrate this. For example the law passed in 1978 to make everyone wear seat belts whilst travelling in a vechile. This law was set in the public’s best intrest. Another example of the government acting upon public intrest is the use of speed cameras in apparent prime hotspots. These have been used to lower the amount of road accidents.

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However in theory we are a liberal representative democracy but in reality we are and elected dictatorship. I.e. Tony Blair.

The UK system can allow the public to influence decisions or issues by using referendum.

This suggests to us that the people are voicing there right to freedom of speech that defines a democracy and therefore this prevents total dictatorship. For example; in Iraq.

The majority of the people adopted the 1997 referenda, Devolution to Wales. This shows us that the government does listen to the demos by passing this law. However the law was passed to prevent ...

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