Lesson5 Democracy Partcipation NEW copy - A Level...
Transcript of Lesson5 Democracy Partcipation NEW copy - A Level...
PoliticsAn Introduction
AS OutlineUnit 1
People and Politics
Unit 2Governing the
UK
50%
50%
Edexcel AS PoliticsAn overview of unit 1 and 2 ...
Unit 1 - People and politicsYou have 4 topic areas in unit 1, these are: 1. Democracy & Political Participation2. Party Politics and Ideas3. Elections4. Pressure Groups
Unit 1 teaching will be from Sept to Dec followed by a unit 1 mock exam.
Unit 2 - Governing the UKYou also have 4 topic areas in unit 2, these are: 1. The Constitution2. Parliament 3. The Prime Minister & Cabinet4. Judges and Civil Liberties
Unit teaching will be from Jan to April followed by a unit 2 mock exam.
Study tipKeep separate folders for both units with clearly labelled sections. Prepare these folders at the beginning of the year as you will inevitably come across material/news examples that may come in handy for future topics.
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Jan
April
Sept
Unit 1People & Politics Electoral Systems
Party Policy and Ideas
PressureGroups
Democracy & Political Participation
Assessment
You are assessed at the end of your first year: You will sit two exams, they will be: Each worth 50% of your overall As grade and 25% of your overall A2 grade Worth 80 marks in total each Each will be 1 hour 20 minutes long
Unit 1 examFor unit 1 you will have to answer 2 questions related to the 4 topic areas. Each question will have 3 parts - a 5 mark component a 10 mark component and a 25 mark essay.
Unit 2 examUnit 2 is structured differently. You have 2 sections. The first section is a source based question, with the option of answering 1 question from 2. This will have 5, 10 and 25 mark components. The second section will be a 40 mark extended essay, you have to choose 1 from a choice of 2. All 4 topics will come up and can appear in any section.
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What you have
to do
Organise foldersnow!
Keep newspaper articles in
four sections
Pick a book and start reading
Democracy
Government
People
Democracy Definition
1. Government of the people
Government that originates from the people - people are the ultimate source of legislation. The people are sovereign.
Government that is sensitive to the people
2. Government by the people
People participate in political affairsBeing active in political parties
Often called participatory politics.
3. Government for the people
Government for the interest of the people not personal interests.
Representative Democracy
Types of Democracy
There are 2 types of democracy:
- Direct Democracy
- Representative democracy
Britain’s Representative Democracy
Britain’s representative democracy can be summarised as follows:
1. Citizens elect individuals to represent them in a legislature (British Parliament)
2. In the UK this usually means these individuals belong to a party.
3. MPs (representatives) are not simply delegates
4. Will make decisions based upon their own opinions and judgements, consulting generally
‘your representative owes you not his industry only but his judgement, and he betrays you if he sacrifices it to your opinion’
Changesince2005
Seats won29,692
Votes cast65% electorate
Total 650Seats/MPs
To form a government = 650 / 2 +1 = 326
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Britain’s representative democracy?
Advantages and Disadvantages of Representative Democracy
Advantages
• Elected reps are better educated/articulate
• Access to relevant research - form opinions
• Allows parliament to make difficult decisions
• Allows joined-up government
Disadvantages
• Long terms in office - unaccountable between elections
• Delegates for parties ‘toeing the line’ and the Whips system
• Limits popular participation
• Elitism - e.g. expenses scandal
• Lack of choice between parties
• Party system
• Voter apathy
Referendums• Representative democracies can become distant.
• Referendums are employed as a form of direct democracy within a representative democracy in order to widen participation.
• In recent history there have only been two UK national referendums - 1975 membership of EEC (EU) and 2011 AV referendum.
• The Labour government after 1997 promised greater referendums on major issues.
• There have been since 1997 five regional referendums.
• But are referendums ‘alien to our tradition’? (Atlee).
• Parliament is sovereign, representative democracy
Assessment of Referendums
Topic - how are topics decided? without initiatives, governments will control the topics
Wording - Why is wording important?
Timing - when to have referendums
Funding - direct and indirect funding
Turnout
Referendums on the government not the issue
Complexity of the issues
But...
Entrenches fundamental issues
Resolves disputes
Prevents bad decisions
Mayoral Referendums
• There have been over 30 mayoral elections
• Turnout has been as low as 10% and as high as 64%
Congestion charges
• 2005 Edinburgh - 74.4% no
• 2008 Manchester - 78.8% no
Initiatives, recalls and other forms
• Read the book and find out about initiatives and recalls
• Find out about citizen juries
• Find out about directly elected mayors and police commissioners
• Read article on e-petitions
To what extent is more direct democray good for UK democracy?
Political Participation
Is there a problem with partcipation in elections?
Political Participation since ww2
Other Elections
London Mayoral 2008 - 45.33%
London Mayoral 2004 - 36.95%
Welsh Assembly 2011 - 42.2%
AV Referrendum - 42%
Turnout around the world
Iran - 85%
India - 56.97%
USA - 63.0%
South Africa - 77.3%
Party membership
Party membership EU
Political Participation
• Engagement with formal processes and institutions of Democracy in decline since 1960’s.
• Party memberships have been falling - 1/4 of 1964 levels.
• Turnout for general elections remain low. 78.7% in 1959 - 59.4% in 2001. In young people this is even lower.
• Turnout in local elections and mayoral elections lower (London mayoral elections 34.43% in 2000)
• Is this ‘apathy’?.
The Facts:
‘a state of indifference towards the political process, political institutions and politicians... and the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation and passion’.
def. Political Apathy
Political Participation
• More single issue led campaigns on the increase such as anti-war, rural interests, airport expansion, environment. Direct action Vs Political Participation.
• ‘while voting is waning, alternative forms of political expression... are all on the rise.’ Noreena Hertz - Independent
• Researchers found 2.5 million people had taken part in a demonstration (pre 2003), 22 million signed a petition.
• So is it apathy?
Other forms on the increase
Solving the Political Participation problem
Politics/Politicians Voter
Power Inquiry
Solutions to the political participation problem
• 2 sets of proposals
• a. making it easier to vote through technology/postal voting etc.
• b. deeper issues about British politics (systemic issues)
Solutions to the political participation problem - Voting/Voters• Compulsory voting
• Reducing voting age
• More use of postal/internet voting
• Citizenship Classes and education
Solutions to the political participation problem - Politics/Politicians• Resolving the flaws in UK democracy
• More direct democracy (participatory)
• Electoral system
• Modernising institutions (HoL etc)
• Lack of ideology - ‘centre ground’ - change politics
• Localism / decentralisation
Why does political participation matter? • Is it really a problem? Natural problem due to change in societies.
• Undermines legitimacy of political institutions
• Brings governing parties mandate into question. 2001 Labour won with 24% of total electorate
• May impact on the quality and effectiveness of government
‘In the 2001 General Election only 3 out of every 5 electors bothered to vote. The turnout of 59 per cent was the lowest for any General Election since 1918, and as that was a year when many electors were still returning from military service in Europe, the 2001 turnout can be considered the worst on record. For the first time since 1923 the number who did not vote was greater than the number that voted for the winning party.’ Electoral Reform Society
So why are voters disengaged?
1. Disenfranchisement - When groups are excluded from the political process directly or indirectly through no representation.
2. Ideology - Parties no longer endorse strong political ideology but seek the safe centre.
3. ‘Corruption’ and ‘scandal’ - plays a part in projecting a bad image of politics. Big interests.
4. Breaking manifesto promises.
5. Party Politics (Party System) - MPs often vote on Party lines rather than the interests of their constituents. (Party Whips). Yaa boo Politics.
6. Anachronisms - Parliament and process seems foreign and outdated.
7. Electoral System - First past the post
Essay ‘Assess the measures proposed to increase political partcipation in Britain’ 25
Explain the solutions to the political participation problem [10]