2021
UK Politics
COMPLETE NOTES FOR UK POLITICS
, Democracy
The rule of the people, the people (demos) are involved in their own rule (kratia).
1. Of the people - People governing must be ‘ordinary people’.
2. By the people - this suggests that the people must have a say In choosing who rules over them.
3. For the people - this suggest that those in charge must govern in the interests of the people.
There are two common forms of democracy: representative and direct.
Representative Democracy
Indirect democracy the people elect representatives who make decisions on their behalf.
Advantages Disadvantages
• Professional politicians make complex • Citizens are disengaged from Politics
decisions. • Tightly controlled parties result in politicians
• Minority views consider and upheld. lacking independence.
• Elected politicians are held to account by • Politicians are skilled at swerving
the people. accountability and passing the buck.
• Most practical form of democracy. • Politicians are open to corruption and self-
interest not their constituents’ best interest.
Features of a Representative Democracy
Features Is the UK a Representative Democracy
Elections of Representatives should be regular, competitive, In the UK, elections must be held every 5 years per the
and secret, carried out without force and with adult universal Fixed Term Parliament Act 201, using FPTP, in secret and
suffrage. the results are legally binding.
Civil Liberties must be protected e.g. Freedom of assembly and Established rights and freedoms, now enshrined in UK Laws
press. per the 1998 Human Rights Act.
Elections must be contested by numerous political parties. Numerous Parties some better than others,
Constitutional checks exist to prevent a concentration of The UK Constitution although uncodified sets the
government power. boundaries for a democratic system.
An assembly exits which reflects the make-up of society and Political decisions are made by MPs they sit in parliament
passes laws. and are expected the represent the views of the electorate.
Pressure Groups have the opportunity and freedom to put They are an integral part of the UK electoral System.
forward their views.
An independent judiciary exists. The Judiciary is fully separate from the executive and
legislature per the 2006 Constitutional Reform Act.
,Direct Democracy-
• Does not currently exist anywhere, but key to understand as an alternative method.
• Basically, people make decisions for themselves, there is no government.
Advantages Disadvantages
- Everyone in society is involved - Impractical to achieve as all citizens need to be involved
- People make decisions based on their daily.
interests. - Citizens become apathetic if they are asked to
- All citizens have an equal voice participate too often.
- Purest form of democracy - People vote in their own interests, not society.
- No minority voice can be heard, tyranny of the majority
How healthy is UK Democracy?
Elections-
• Free and Fair, universal suffrage, choice, and party competition.
• FPTP is simple, speedy, delivers a clear winner (usually, mathematically coalitions are near impossible) and
has a strong constituency MP link.
• Proportional Representation for devolved elections is good.
• Turnout is not high but no lower than other countries in the West, 69% in 2017
• FPTP is disproportionate, simple plurality, minor parties under-represented, wasted votes in 2015 50% votes
cast were for losing candidate. It also creates safe seats.
• The health of Representative Democracy has been called into question by the general public leading the
apathy.
• 17/28 PMs since 1990 did not win an election. Of those 17, three were followed by an election called within
50 days of the new Prime Minister taking office. To take some recent examples, Tony Blair and David
Cameron came in due to elections in 1997 and 2010, while Gordon Brown, Theresa May and Boris Johnson
all entered office following the resignation of their predecessors.
Citizens’ Rights-
• Human Rights Act of 1998 extensive freedom and rights, this is not fully entrenched; gov can ignore judges
e.g. Terrorism Act 2006
• Freedom of Info act 2000 gov has to reveal info on how any why decisions were made, but this has a lot of
exceptions which govs use.
Limited Government- government is the concept of a government limited in power. It is a key concept in
the history of liberalism.
• The UK Constitution is effective in limiting government, adapting, and changing to circumstances.
• No codified constitution so power distribution is undefined
• Fusion of Exec and Legislature can lead to over-powerful exec., circumstances can allow the emergence of
“Elected Dictatorships” [Lord Hailsham] —> HOL also helps prevent an elected dictatorship e.g. EU
withdrawal Bill 2020, proposed 5 amendment: including one which states that if a child were seeking asylum
in the UK and a relative lived there, they could stay. this was rejected. effective in theory, not in practise
• HOL = “the only true opposition in the UK” [Roberts] post-election 1997
Representation-
• Parliament represents constituents and holds government to account on behalf of electorate.
, • Parliament is ineffective of holding gov to account due to overall majority for government.
• Unelected house of lords has the ability to delay laws also lacks religious diversity, which is not inline with
the UKs 21st century principles of tolerance and inclusivity
• All citizens have an MP and can expect their concerns to be taken up.
• Many MPs ignore constituents because they hold safe seats and/or want to remain loyal to party.
• Women ethnic minorities and working class are unrepresented.
Pressure Groups-
• They supplement democracy by giving minority voices allowing citizens to have influence out of elections.
• Wealthy and Power PGs pursue their own interests, which may not benefit the majority, their leaders are
unaccountable, and not under public scrutiny.
Independent Judiciary-
➢ Rule of law is protected by Judicial Independence, protect citizens and limit government.
➢ All government are subject to law, upheld by judges via judicial review and HRA.
➢ Gov has a role appointing judges.
A Participation Crisis?
Falling Participation-
1. Turnout has been falling since 1979, 76%, 84% in 1950 and 59% in 2001
2. EU, local elections have seen even lower turnout 35% in 2014, 36% for local elections and 15% PCC
2012.
3. In 2011 only 42% bothered to Vote in referenda.
4. Party Membership has fallen since 1980s, lack of local candidates.
5. Partisan dealignment, people see all parties as the same.
6. Lack of Young people involved
7. Public trust in politicians is low.
Increasing Participation-
1. 59% turnout in 2001, 2019 68.8%.
2. Scottish Indy referendum 2014 saw turnout of 85%, 75% of 16 and 17year olds, EU 2016 72.2%.
3. Election of JC reinvigorated the young and in 2017 lots of young people voted.
4. Party Membership has increased dramatically, the Labour party is the largest in Europe (~500,000
members… still fewer than the RSPB which has over 1.1 million members)
5. Number and Memberships in PGs has increased.
6. Over 26,000 e-petitions showing involvement.
7. MPs interact on twitter with people and journalists.
Anti-politics-
Distrust in politicians; dislike of party politics; disaffection from parties caused by
• Lack of interest by young
• unrepresented. 30% of the commons is privately educated (improvement on what it used to be, but
still 4x over the national average, 7% 30% of tory MPs, 20% of Labour, and 17% of Lib Dems went to
Oxbridge (national average = less than 1%) — 2017 figures
