Is the Uk more democratic?

Rachael Burke L6Da 13/02/2008

Is the UK government more democratic since 1997?

In 1997 the Labour Party came into power, many thought this meant that with a change of Political Party in government the UK would see a change in the democratic system. The New Labour Party made some changes in the legislation, some in the direction of greater democracy and some not so much.

One notable change the Labour party made was introducing devolved assemblies in Scotland and Wales, so that decisions about Scotland were placed in the hands of the Scots rather than London. This is more democratic because it means that those who it most affects have the power. Even though Scottish MPs are still able to vote on how England is run when many feel it does not affect them, we can see that the UK as a whole has become more democratic from this action.

This is a preview of the whole essay

New Labour has also used more referendums since 1997. For example in 2004 Labour’s proposal for a referendum was held on whether or not to have a Regional Assembly, but the people voted ‘No’, and so the proposal was dropped. This shows that the British people do have a considerable amount of power, and the UK is more democratic. Before 1997 the UK government called very few referendums to determine what the people felt and what action should be taken, in fear of not getting the desired response from the people. It can be argued that the government manipulate the system: they still have the power to make the decision as to whether or not to offer the public a referendum, and tend only to do so when they think that the public will get the question ‘right’, however we can see that the number of UK referendums has increased greatly over the last ten years, proving that the UK government has indeed become more democratic.

Over the years the number of elected representatives with resemblance to the public has risen considerably. In 1992 the Labour party had only 60 female MPs, but when they were elected into government in 1997 Prime Minister Tony Blair elected 120 female MPs. However if we look at the statistics, how proportional is the representation? The number of female MPs has increased by 100% for the Labour Party, but the female resemblance still only makes up 20% of the government. By 2005 the number of black and ethnic minority MPs rose from 13-15, this is a small improvement, but if the representation was to truly reflect the population it would have to have risen from 13-51. Many argue that the representation in the government is still not proportional to the population; however it is clear that the representation in the UK is more proportional than it was at the start of the labour term in 1997, proving that the UK government is more democratic.

In 1997 there were 92 hereditary peers in total in the House of Lords, but in 1999 Labour abolished most hereditary peers in the House of Lords; this was seen as the beginning of a government reform in a step towards greater democracy and equality in the UK. On the other hand the House of Lords is still a non-elected body, but is appointed by the Prime Minister and not the people. This system of appointing rather than electing members of the government has led to allegations such as the ‘Cash for Honours’ scandal, where the public felt that Members of Parliament were buying there positions. Many felt that democracy should stand for equality, but it seemed that people were buying there way into power, and that this was very undemocratic.

In conclusion I think the UK government has become more democratic since 1997. It may still have a long way to go, but in comparison to how it was before 1997, it has made greater steps to becoming a more democratic government.

Page