How democratic is the UK political system?
How democratic is the UK political system? Britain is a representative democracy and the British political system shows factors of being both democratic and undemocratic. In the UK our elections are typically held within 5 years of the previous election and are free from corruption and violence. The outcomes of the elections are always considered fair and the changeover between governments is quick and painless. Everyone over the age of 18 is allowed to vote apart from in certain circumstances such as the person being in prison. However, the British electoral system is based on the “First past the post” system, which some say is undemocratic due to the problems of over and under representation whereby the proportion of seats a party gains is not equivalent to the proportion of votes. An example of this was in 1983 when the Liberal Democrats gained 3.5% of the seats when they gained 25.4% of the votes. Another undemocratic element of Britain’s governmental system is that there is no written constitution. This means that, in theory, the government are free to pass any legislation as long as they have the majority in parliament which could be easily achieved if the party has a greater number of seats. This means there is no safeguard for laws that can be altered or new ones that could be created. This can be seen as very undemocratic as the government therefore have too
Discuss the advantages of making voting compulsory in the UK
Discuss the advantages of making voting compulsory in the UK Compulsory voting would broaden and enhance political participation. By making voting compulsory we as a democratic country would be able to have a greater perspective on what the people want. It would Equalises participation from all walks of life and removes bias from less-privileged citizens. Many of those who earn less than the general average wage feel that they cannot vote as their voice will not be heard. These people deem it pointless to partake when the upper/middle classes seem to reign supreme. By making it compulsory more of the less privileged citizens would feel as though their views are being taking into consideration and there would be more policies from political parties aimed towards them. By making it compulsory Britain would become a more democratic state over all. For example in Australia voting is compulsory and the people over all during countless surveys agree that they feel as if they have a more democratic state by having a broader range of opinions. The political party in power would have a much more legitimate claim to power if voting was compulsory. When made compulsory the people of the state would feel as though all of their opinions had been taken into account and if it was an end result that they did not agree with then they could not argue with the outcome as it was coming from
Explain the arguments in favour of lowering the voting age
Explain the arguments in favour of lowering the voting age (10 marks) There is a proposed ideology that parties such as Labour are in favour of; that is, to lower the voting age to 16. Labour has included this aim in their 2010 manifesto. The prominent argument in favour of lowering the voting age to 16 is that it will reduce political apathy, thus increase voter turnout. There is strong evidence to suggest that the younger a person is introduced into a voting habit, the more likely they are to keep it. This thus encourages political participation and ensures a generation of politically involved people, thus promotes democracy. Voter turnout has been a downhill process since the post-war period. Reducing voting age to 16 is a good long-term method of to combat political apathy therefore. For example; when Austria gave the vote to 16/17 years old, turnout in that age group was similar to other age groups. This shows that the youth have a desire to be engaged in politics however are not given the opportunity to exercise there youthful desires. As well as this, it can be perceived that 18 is possibly the worst age to introduce voting. At this age, many 18 year olds consider the prospect of moving out, some continue to study higher education in university as well as being introduced to adult working life. The age of 16 however, is when the teenager is both mature and
Winston Churchill
Name: Winston Churchill Profession: Was prime minister of Britain Nationality: British DOB: 1874 - 1965 Religion: Christian A Brief Biography: Winston Churchill was born in Oxfordshire, England, on 30 November 1874 and died in London on 24 January 1965 aged 90. Although Winston Churchill was born in a palace, he did not have a particularly privileged or happy childhood and his education was poor. He was elected prime minister of England in 1940. Outside politics he was a good painter and an excellent writer- he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. His reputation remains assured as one of the great leader of the 20th century, whose contribution really did change the history of the world. Belief: He believed he could lead Britain to victory although defeat seemed almost inevitable. In 1940, when Britain stood almost alone against the might of Nazi Germany, Winston Churchill stepped forward to lead his nation and led his nation to victory in World War Two. Beliefs into Action: He put his beliefs into action by returning to government as a member of the war cabinet and First Lord of the Admiralty, the same post he had held during World War One. As First Lord of the Admiralty Churchill bore some responsibility for the failure of the Royal Navy to prevent the occupation of Norway. On 7-8 May, the House of Commons met to debate the disaster. The day after the debate, 9
In what ways has political participation in the UK declined in recent years?
High political participation is a key requirement in terms of democracy. If a Government has not been voted in by a high voter turnout, this decreases the Governments legitimacy, and in turn does not produce a strong and stable Government. There are many reasons as to why political participation has declined within recent years. The first way would be in terms of voter turnout. In 1983, the voter turnout was 72.7% nearly as low as the lowest percentage of 72% in 1970, the lowest since 1945. A steady increase was shown after 1983, 75.3% in 1987 and 77.7% in 1992. However after this election the voter turnout drops dramatically, 71.4% in 1997, lowering ever further to 59.4% in 2001, a percentage of closely over half the population, not representative of the entire population. From 2001 onwards, there has been shown to be a steady rise, to a high of 65.1% within the 2010 elections. Although the political party (Conservatives coalition with the Lib Dems) gained a ‘majority’ this may not have been the case if ALL of the population who were eligible to vote, voted. Another way political participation had declined is through the lack of party membership. There has been a major decline in party membership post the war period, 2010 figures show that only 1% of the electorate are a member of Labour, Lib Dems, or the Conservatives. Further findings of this report show that Labour
Outline two differences between a referendum and an election.
Outline two differences between a referendum and an election. Elections and Referendums are commonly mistaken for being distinctively similar, but in fact they have many differences, for example; An Election is a official decision making process by which citizens vote for an individual to hold public office whereas a referendum is a direct vote in which voters are asked to agree/disagree with a particular proposition. A referendum is seen as a form of direct democracy; the electorates influence the decision being made, although referendums are not legally binding, where as election are. An election is a form of representative democracy; electorates vote for a specific individual/party to make the decisions for the public. Referendums are usually held when the controlling government sees an issue arise, referendums are a form of solving that issue by asking the opinion of the public. Referendums can be held on a local, regional/ national level. Elections however are held consecutively every 4 years; this emphasizes the representation of direct democracy as the citizens have little say, unlike referendums, which are usually held at the peak of a public disruption. Explain 2 ways in which a citizen can participate in political activity other than voting/joining a political party. Some various methods of participating in politics, other than voting/joining a party, that may
Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister 1958-1966
Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister 1958-1966 Verwoerd wanted: * An all white South Africa by 1978. * The complete and permanent division of races in South Africa. * The National Party now controlled the South African police, courts, media, civil services, all levels of government and the army. This meant Verwoerd could introduce even more radical changes. 959: Bantu Self-Government Act: * Verwoerd recommended that 8 (later 10) self-governing homelands for non-whites. These homelands were known as 'Bantustans'. * He hoped to 'cleanse' the rest of South Africa of non-whites and force them into these reserves. * Verwoerd planned to monitor the economy and government of these new Bantustans and prepare them for self-rule. * He was assassinated before his plans were achieved. John Vorster, Prime Minister 1966-1978 Vorster intended on completing Verwoerd vision of Bantustans across South Africa. * Between 1976 and 1981, four Bantustans were created (Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei). * They were too overcrowded and financially weak to stand any chance of prosperity. * Each Bantustan had its own leader. Each leader was approved by the National party and was little more than a puppet leader. * The movement of blacks in and out of Bantustans was theoretically banned but many blacks survived by illegally commuting into white
