Essences of Politics

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“Participation is the essence of democracy” – To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Democracy means “rule, will and power of the people” so it would seem wise that for the people to have rule and power they should participate in some way to insure that their will is carried out. Participation is traditionally thought to mean just voting although this isn’t the case; there are other means such as joining parties, pressure groups and protests (to name a few). Through this essay I will be assessing whether participation is the essence of democracy and clarifying whether Edmund Burke was right when he said “it is necessary only for the good man to do nothing for evil to triumph”.

Edmund Burke is right when he says that evil will triumph if everyone sits back. Extremists and fanatics have large committed bases which most people (whether interested in politics or not) do not agree with. If people do not participate then groups such as the BNP and (formerly) National Front will begin to become a majority and the actions that the government takes will no longer be the “will of the people.” Voting even if it voting means voting for the lesser of evils is necessary to make sure that the will of the people is not completely distorted. The argument that “we have a right not to vote” is valid, however, if strategic voting means that people should vote for someone who has less extremist views, then the electorate should do it.

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Elections allow people to choose representatives, without this people’s “will” would not be put through. Without elections, this country would not be probably not be called a democracy. However, the thing with this is turn-out is heading for an all-time low, in the 2005 elections only twenty-nine million people voted (that’s less than 50% of the population). Also turn-out is only ever high when there is a time of economic or social unrest (such as the German election results in 1930s). This argument makes it seem like participating isn’t needed for a successful democracy but this a farce. The ...

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