Is Representative Democracy An Effective Way to Distribute Political Power?

Authors Avatar

Modern British Politics

School of Politics

and Sociology

COURSEWORK COVER SHEET

For official use only

Is Representative Democracy An Effective Way to Distribute Political Power?

This essay will be examining the question, is representative democracy an effective way to distribute political power?

By using the word democracy and political, this essay will primarily be

focusing on the political make up of the United Kingdom and its competence as a legislature.

This essay will seek to give examples of both effective and ineffective ways representation has been used in British politics to distribute power amongst Parliament.

And whether representative democracy has contributed to a legitimate and equal system of power or if it has made political power unjust and imbalanced.

Representative Democracy involves the selection of government officials by the people being represented. It is more properly called a democratic republic. The most common mechanisms involve election of the candidate with a majority or a plurality of the votes .

Hanna Pitkin is often referred to as the pioneer on the theory of representation, in her ground breaking work ‘The Concept of Representation.’

‘representation, taken generally, means the making present in some sense of something which is nevertheless not present literally or in fact’

Pitkin’s famous quote indicates that political activities and opinions of citizens and the electorate should be made present and ubiquitous in all decision and policymaking policies.

Descriptive Representation is a form of representation, opposite to that of substantive representation, whereby the representatives resemble physical or emotional attributes similar to that of the represented. This form of representation forms an integral part of the democratic electoral system.

‘Black legislators represent Black constituents, women legislators represent women constituents, and so on .

If representation is divided collectively in these terms, does it make for a fair system? Are all groups and individuals then adequately and proportionately represented by a politician because they can more readily identify with the represented?
History and current sociological factors tell us that ethnic minorities, women, lower socio economic groups and other marginalised groups are under represented in Parliament.

Let’s begin with women in politics.

With women making up 19.6% of our MPs, the UK is ranked 14th within the EU. UK is ranked 52nd out of 189 countries listed by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in terms of the percentage of women holding office in the lower or single House of the national Parliamentary body .

These figures being accurate, they indicate a very low presence of women actively taking part in UK politics and Parliament. Women’s issues are more liable to be under- addressed or inadequately represented and debated in parliament, if descriptive representation is not being successfully achieved.

Many of the current arguments over democracy revolve around what we might call demands for political presence: demands for the equal representation of women with men demands for a more even-handed

balance between the different ethnic groups that make up each society; demands for the political inclusion of groups that have come to see themselves as marginalized or silenced or excluded .

This poor under representation of women in politics, obviously then equates to an ineffective and unequal distribution of political power.

The only logical understanding that can be deduced from this abysmal representation, is that women’s issues and debates are being addressed solely by a majority male Parliament.

Women’s movement activists in many parts of the world, for example, claim that legislatures peopled mostly by men cannot be said properly to represent women .

How can men legitimately stand in for women when what is at issue is the representation of women per se? 

It is imperative to have gender equality within Parliament, in terms of descriptive representation. Not only does it make for issues such as childcare, abortion and equal pay a transparent and unpredictable debate, it also provides role models for the citizen and society as a whole.

 

There are many other marginalised groups in UK society which are not adequately represented in a political setting. Some of these groups include lower socio-economic class, single and lone parents, the disabled and the ethnic minority.  

Let’s now look at the latter of these groups; ethnic minorities. This is one group, which after women in politics, is heavily debated upon. But in practice is yet still an elusive area to be effectively represented

Join now!

There have only ever been three non-white Cabinet members in Britain and there are only 15 MPs (2% of the total)

0% of Labour's new parliamentary candidates are from ethnic minorities, a figure that rises to 15% in Labour-held seats. Only 4% of new Tory candidates are from ethnic minorities, though this rises to 9% in Tory-held seats. The Liberal Democrats have selected 5.6% of their candidates from ethnic minorities .

The UK democratic system often sidelines or neglects the needs or values of the ethnic minority. This is obvious when one looks at the House of ...

This is a preview of the whole essay