UK Politics Revision Pack
Democracy and Participation
Direct democracy
o The people making key decisions themselves e.g. Ancient Greece – a modern
form would be referendums but, of course, these are one off
o Everyone gets a decision e.g. 2016 EU referendum had more than 33m votes
o Organisation is easier due to modern technology e.g. the growth of e-petitions
has shown the ease of finding out what people think
o Encourages popular participation e.g. turnout at the Scottish Independence
referendum 2014 was 85%
o BUT:
o The decisions made in referendums may be at odds with the preferences of
representatives = political instability as shown with the 2016 referendum
o Direct democracy is impractical for large populations – emergency decisions
often must be made by a handful of people quickly
o Popular participation removes accountability
Representative democracy
o The people elect representatives to make political decisions on their behalf
o Regular elections, representatives are accountable to the people, parties’
campaign to remain in government, pressure groups operate too
o Accountability means the representative can be voted out – many Lib Dem
MPs lost their seats in 2015 over the university tuition fees
o Representatives can become experts – Yvette Cooper is chair of the Home
Affairs Committee
o Gives a voice to minorities – HRA and Freedom of Information Act
o BUT:
o Representatives may not do what the people want – Lib Dem MPs pledging
not to raise tuition but then voting to do so
o Politicians also pursue their own agendas – Theresa May saying there is no
magic money tree, but spending £1bn for DUP NI support
o Minorities may find their needs are not met – MPs voting against child refugee
amendment
Pluralism and democracy
o Power and influence dispersed, tolerance legally and culturally, political
parties free, pressure groups
Pluralism – power lies in different places – Article 50 – BUT – IAE
Free and fair elections – all adults – no criminals or under 18s – elective dictatorship
Corruption – Fiona Onasanya and Chris Davies recalled – BJ 2020 £15k holiday from
Carphone Warehouse
Citizen Rights – HRA and ECHR but HRA is not entrenched
Devolved decision making – Scottish and Welsh parliaments – 85% of council
budgets still comes from the central government
Forms of participation – voting, joining a party, trade unions, pressure groups, petition
A participation crisis?
o Voting in GEs – 67% in 2019 and 78% in 1974 showing the decline – BUT –
2001-2017 there was a steady increase, time of year matters to turnout as 2019
was in December
, o Joining a political party – 1.7% of the population involved – BUT – Labour
rose massively with Corbyn
o Signing petitions – is a 3min petition meaningful participation? – BUT – 38
Degrees claims almost 40m people have signed one
How to improve political participation – UK already has convenience voting
o Lower the voting age – youth turnout at the Scottish Independence 80% but
only 43% of 18-25yr olds voting in the 2015 GE
o Compulsory voting – turnout would be 100% and Australia has it, but voting is
a right, not a duty so many people would spoil their ballot papers
o Voting online – been successful in Estonia and may boost turnout but there is a
cyber risk and for most people voting in person is easy enough
Pressure Groups – promotional groups vs sectional groups
o Promotional groups – serve whole community, not just members, use direct
action e.g. BLM
o Sectional groups – self-interested so they serve their members, promote direct
links with MPs e.g. National Education Union
o Some pressure groups turn to political parties to raise issues e.g. National
Health Action Party for the NHS budget cuts
o Lobbying – direct contact with MPs – insider groups e.g. National Farmers’
Union
o Civil disobedience – Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil
o Social media and e-petitions – scrap the tampon tax from 2021
o Insider status – give views and draft legislation e.g. private healthcare
companies helped draft a Health and Social Care bill – BUT- not all insider
groups are influential e.g. CBI has strong ties to the Conservatives but was not
influential on government policy to Brexit
o Group size – larger membership claims to reflect public opinion e.g.
Campaign to Protect Rural England has 40,000 members – BUT – Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament had 110,000 members but had little influence
o Public support – more public support = more influence e.g. Snowdrop
campaign to ban handguns following 1996 Dunblane massacre – BUT –
government attitude matters more than public e.g. 2013 badger cull despite
public outcry
Pressure groups and democracy
o They help to disperse power e.g. BMA opinion to medical workers – BUT –
this can give too much power to too few individuals e.g. the revolving door as
SPADs get well-paying jobs at lobbying firms to exploit contacts
o They educate the public on policy e.g. Act for the Act raising awareness for
the HRA – BUT – some groups seek to limit progress e.g. Stop 5G
o Give people more opportunities to participate e.g. 38 Degrees have 40m
signatures – BUT – undemocratic groups may not accurately represent views
e.g. many pressure group leaders are unelected
Think Tanks (experts to investigate problems and offer solutions)
o Non-partisan groups focus on policy e.g. ResPublica, left-wing e.g. Fabian
Society and right-wing e.g. Adam Smith Institute that offer free market
solutions
o Centre for Social Justice big impact on coalition government for welfare
reform – BUT – they are aligned to parties so loose influence when that party
is not in power
, Lobbyists (individuals paid to persuade decision makers)
o E.g. Animal Aid, trade unions and even foreign governments
o Spend around £2bn a year and employ 4k people – BUT – regulations ban
MPs from accepting money from lobbyists
Corporations – their wealth + size is so much that governments can’t afford to ignore
their opinions
o Donate to campaigns with over 1/5 of Conservative donations came from
corporations – BUT – do not always get the policies they want as most
companies were opposed to Brexit
The development of rights in the UK
o Magna Carta – first limit to the King’s power
o Common Law – rights which have been recognised as existing and enforced,
based on precedents e.g. equal treatment under the law
o Statutes – parliamentary law e.g. Freedom of Information Act 2000
o HRA – European Convention on HR into UK law
o Equalities Act 2010 – protects against discrimination e.g. sex, race, religion
How well are rights protected?
o Common law tradition e.g. right to a fair trial – BUT – it can be vague e.g.
internment in NI in the 1970s
o UK is subject to the ECHR e.g. voted prisoners have the right to vote – BUT –
Parliament is sovereign so can ignore ECHR and challenge HRA as prisoners
have not been given the vote
o Judiciary is independent and uphold the law no matter Parliament’s opinion
e.g. judges overturning government plans to deny legal aid for people not in
the UK for at least 12 months – BUT – pressure on government because of
terrorism for example means the right to privacy was threatened e.g.
Investigatory Powers Act
Conflicts between individual and collective rights
o E.g. freedom of expression vs rights of minority groups not to get hate speech
o E.g. Ashers bakery case – refused to support gay marriage on a cake
Pressure groups and rights
o Liberty – focuses on limiting government power – BUT – it has not always
been popular by opposing government proposals for surveillance after terror
attacks
o Unlock democracy – constitutional reform to strengthen rights – BUT – not
high on the agenda for either major party
o Amnesty International – against human rights abuse – BUT – they are often
dependent on governments being willing to admit where they went wrong e.g.
few victims of the Windrush scandal received compensation
Democracy and Participation
Direct democracy
o The people making key decisions themselves e.g. Ancient Greece – a modern
form would be referendums but, of course, these are one off
o Everyone gets a decision e.g. 2016 EU referendum had more than 33m votes
o Organisation is easier due to modern technology e.g. the growth of e-petitions
has shown the ease of finding out what people think
o Encourages popular participation e.g. turnout at the Scottish Independence
referendum 2014 was 85%
o BUT:
o The decisions made in referendums may be at odds with the preferences of
representatives = political instability as shown with the 2016 referendum
o Direct democracy is impractical for large populations – emergency decisions
often must be made by a handful of people quickly
o Popular participation removes accountability
Representative democracy
o The people elect representatives to make political decisions on their behalf
o Regular elections, representatives are accountable to the people, parties’
campaign to remain in government, pressure groups operate too
o Accountability means the representative can be voted out – many Lib Dem
MPs lost their seats in 2015 over the university tuition fees
o Representatives can become experts – Yvette Cooper is chair of the Home
Affairs Committee
o Gives a voice to minorities – HRA and Freedom of Information Act
o BUT:
o Representatives may not do what the people want – Lib Dem MPs pledging
not to raise tuition but then voting to do so
o Politicians also pursue their own agendas – Theresa May saying there is no
magic money tree, but spending £1bn for DUP NI support
o Minorities may find their needs are not met – MPs voting against child refugee
amendment
Pluralism and democracy
o Power and influence dispersed, tolerance legally and culturally, political
parties free, pressure groups
Pluralism – power lies in different places – Article 50 – BUT – IAE
Free and fair elections – all adults – no criminals or under 18s – elective dictatorship
Corruption – Fiona Onasanya and Chris Davies recalled – BJ 2020 £15k holiday from
Carphone Warehouse
Citizen Rights – HRA and ECHR but HRA is not entrenched
Devolved decision making – Scottish and Welsh parliaments – 85% of council
budgets still comes from the central government
Forms of participation – voting, joining a party, trade unions, pressure groups, petition
A participation crisis?
o Voting in GEs – 67% in 2019 and 78% in 1974 showing the decline – BUT –
2001-2017 there was a steady increase, time of year matters to turnout as 2019
was in December
, o Joining a political party – 1.7% of the population involved – BUT – Labour
rose massively with Corbyn
o Signing petitions – is a 3min petition meaningful participation? – BUT – 38
Degrees claims almost 40m people have signed one
How to improve political participation – UK already has convenience voting
o Lower the voting age – youth turnout at the Scottish Independence 80% but
only 43% of 18-25yr olds voting in the 2015 GE
o Compulsory voting – turnout would be 100% and Australia has it, but voting is
a right, not a duty so many people would spoil their ballot papers
o Voting online – been successful in Estonia and may boost turnout but there is a
cyber risk and for most people voting in person is easy enough
Pressure Groups – promotional groups vs sectional groups
o Promotional groups – serve whole community, not just members, use direct
action e.g. BLM
o Sectional groups – self-interested so they serve their members, promote direct
links with MPs e.g. National Education Union
o Some pressure groups turn to political parties to raise issues e.g. National
Health Action Party for the NHS budget cuts
o Lobbying – direct contact with MPs – insider groups e.g. National Farmers’
Union
o Civil disobedience – Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil
o Social media and e-petitions – scrap the tampon tax from 2021
o Insider status – give views and draft legislation e.g. private healthcare
companies helped draft a Health and Social Care bill – BUT- not all insider
groups are influential e.g. CBI has strong ties to the Conservatives but was not
influential on government policy to Brexit
o Group size – larger membership claims to reflect public opinion e.g.
Campaign to Protect Rural England has 40,000 members – BUT – Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament had 110,000 members but had little influence
o Public support – more public support = more influence e.g. Snowdrop
campaign to ban handguns following 1996 Dunblane massacre – BUT –
government attitude matters more than public e.g. 2013 badger cull despite
public outcry
Pressure groups and democracy
o They help to disperse power e.g. BMA opinion to medical workers – BUT –
this can give too much power to too few individuals e.g. the revolving door as
SPADs get well-paying jobs at lobbying firms to exploit contacts
o They educate the public on policy e.g. Act for the Act raising awareness for
the HRA – BUT – some groups seek to limit progress e.g. Stop 5G
o Give people more opportunities to participate e.g. 38 Degrees have 40m
signatures – BUT – undemocratic groups may not accurately represent views
e.g. many pressure group leaders are unelected
Think Tanks (experts to investigate problems and offer solutions)
o Non-partisan groups focus on policy e.g. ResPublica, left-wing e.g. Fabian
Society and right-wing e.g. Adam Smith Institute that offer free market
solutions
o Centre for Social Justice big impact on coalition government for welfare
reform – BUT – they are aligned to parties so loose influence when that party
is not in power
, Lobbyists (individuals paid to persuade decision makers)
o E.g. Animal Aid, trade unions and even foreign governments
o Spend around £2bn a year and employ 4k people – BUT – regulations ban
MPs from accepting money from lobbyists
Corporations – their wealth + size is so much that governments can’t afford to ignore
their opinions
o Donate to campaigns with over 1/5 of Conservative donations came from
corporations – BUT – do not always get the policies they want as most
companies were opposed to Brexit
The development of rights in the UK
o Magna Carta – first limit to the King’s power
o Common Law – rights which have been recognised as existing and enforced,
based on precedents e.g. equal treatment under the law
o Statutes – parliamentary law e.g. Freedom of Information Act 2000
o HRA – European Convention on HR into UK law
o Equalities Act 2010 – protects against discrimination e.g. sex, race, religion
How well are rights protected?
o Common law tradition e.g. right to a fair trial – BUT – it can be vague e.g.
internment in NI in the 1970s
o UK is subject to the ECHR e.g. voted prisoners have the right to vote – BUT –
Parliament is sovereign so can ignore ECHR and challenge HRA as prisoners
have not been given the vote
o Judiciary is independent and uphold the law no matter Parliament’s opinion
e.g. judges overturning government plans to deny legal aid for people not in
the UK for at least 12 months – BUT – pressure on government because of
terrorism for example means the right to privacy was threatened e.g.
Investigatory Powers Act
Conflicts between individual and collective rights
o E.g. freedom of expression vs rights of minority groups not to get hate speech
o E.g. Ashers bakery case – refused to support gay marriage on a cake
Pressure groups and rights
o Liberty – focuses on limiting government power – BUT – it has not always
been popular by opposing government proposals for surveillance after terror
attacks
o Unlock democracy – constitutional reform to strengthen rights – BUT – not
high on the agenda for either major party
o Amnesty International – against human rights abuse – BUT – they are often
dependent on governments being willing to admit where they went wrong e.g.
few victims of the Windrush scandal received compensation
