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Summary Edexcel Politics Paper 1 essay plans - TOPIC 1 Democracy and Participation
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Edexcel Politics Paper 1 essay plans - TOPIC 1 Democracy and Participation
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Topic 1: Democracy and ParticipationDebates about: the relative merits of direct and representative democracy; about participation crisis; the legitimacy
and democratic deficit; the role and influence of pressure groups, think tanks and lobbyists; the extent, limits and
tensions within the UK’s rights-based culture, including the conflict between individual and collective rights
Representative democracy/ indirect democracy: a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people.
Direct democracy/ pure democracy: A form of democracy in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives without elected representatives as proxies.
Pluralism: suggests that power is spread amongst different groups in society, and that it is the pushing and pulling between these different groups that explains how decisions are made
and how governments are influenced. powerful pressure/interest groups are a classic example of pluralism because they show how power is divided amongst these different competing
groups and not concentrated with one organisation.
Elitism: power is seen as concentrated amongst a few groups or individuals, including the government. To use the same example as before; elitist theory would suggest that only a few
major pressure/interest groups, such as the NRA or AARP, actually have any influence, and that even they struggle to gain power because it is concentrated in the hands of a few
members of government.
1) Is Representative democracy superior to direct democracy
Para 1 – Representative democracy is superior - Representative democracy allows specialists & experts to make
important decisions in the national interest.
- A common argument in favour of representative democracy over direct democracy is that, while voters may
reasonably decide how to vote in a referendum by considering their own self-interest – instrumental voting,
elected representatives are expected to consider the needs of all of their constituents, as well as the wider
national interest, before they vote in Parliament.
- Representative democracy is also effective as it does not require the public to vote on every single issue,
which saves time and enables more effective change, as seen with the reform to Gun laws that occurred
from 1996-1997
- Counter - Support for ‘populist’ parties and referendums suggests that ‘the establishment’ is out of
touch and therefore not fit to represent the interests of the general public.
- Many Brexit supporters would likely argue that the 2016 EU referendum actually highlighted a
significant flaw in our representative democracy – that elected representatives have become
increasingly out of touch with the voters that they represent.
- The referendum showed that a narrow majority of voters wanted to leave the EU, but this was not at
all reflected in Parliament.
- A pre-referendum survey found that 480 MPs were planning to vote Remain, 159 MPs would vote
Leave, and 11 MPs were undeclared – this was far from reflecting the 52% of the British public who
would go on to vote leave.
Para 2 – Counter – Direct democracy is superior – Direct democracy ensures that the public represent their own
interests.
- This is important as MPs often fail to represent the interests of their own constituents, such as Kate Hoey’s
campaigns for a no-deal Brexit despite her constituency, Vauxhall, voting by 70% to remain in the EU.
- Referendums, a form of direct democracy enable the public to represent themselves and have an immediate
impact on the vote, which they are often unable to do due to FPTP, in which ‘safe seats’ have led to over
66% (2017 election) of votes (and 1.8 million in Scotland) not actually directly contributing to the result of
the General Election
- Counter – Representative democracy better – In the context of referendums, it can be argued that direct
democracy in the UK is flawed in the sense that the topics of these referendums are usually too complex
for voters to understand, leading to their vote being swayed by the interpretations of individuals and
publications they trust.
- This was especially true with the AV referendum in 2011, with the vast majority of voters opting for
the FPTP system because they didn't understand the Alternative Vote system and instead opted for
what the newspapers were advocating.
- Would it be better therefore for MPs to represent the general public on these matters, in order to
make an informed vote that is representative of their constituent's interests.
, 2) Is UK democracy in crisis?
Para 1 – Yes – there is arguably a participation Crisis due to:
- Falling turnout in general elections:
- The average turnout from 1945-1997 was 67% but since then it has been significantly lower.
- The turnout for 2001 for example was just 59.4%
- The turnout for general elections, however, has improved in recent years – for example, the
turnout for the 2019 general election was 66%
- However, this still suggests that UK democracy is facing a participation crisis because large
proportions of the UK electorate still go unrepresented – for example despite the turnout for the
2019 General election being 66% - this still suggests that 34% of the UK electorate had no voice in
the electoral proceedings – the result was not a true representation of public opinion at the time.
- Low turnouts in local elections
- This problem of low voter turnout extends to local elections which tend to experience voter turnouts
of between 30% and 40% of the electorate – Therefore, their results tend not to correlate with the
majority of public opinion.
- They tend to be dominated by more politically active individuals who have a higher propensity to
vote than the average voter – this can lead to more radical third parties gaining electoral success in
these elections.
- For example, in the 2023 local elections The Green Party has had its best-ever local elections, gaining
more than 240 seats across England – a result that was in stark contrast to their 2019 general
election performance, which experienced a far superior voter turnout, where they only won 1 seat
and 3% of the popular vote.
- In addition, this problem of low voter turnout can and has been impacted by logistical errors – for
example in the 2023 local elections due to the voter ID requirement, between 10-25% of voters in
Oxfordshire were unable to cast their ballots – a further indication of how these elections are
unrepresentative and how UK democracy is in crisis.
- Falling party membership:
- Only 1.6% of the electorate now belong to one of the major political parties, whereas in 1983 the
figure was 3.8% and expected to increase.
- The main example of this is the Conservative party, who had just under 200,000 members as of 2021
compared to their estimate of 400,000 in the mid 1990s.
- Counter: memberships of the Labour Party, many third parties, and pressure groups, are now
growing.
- The SNP’s membership for example, has grown tremendously from around 22,000 prior to the
2014 independence referendum, to over 104,000 in 2022.
- Falling Turnout in referendums:
- Particularly concerning considering that it is often argued that referendums are a means to
encourage political participation.
- Only 34% of eligible voters participated in the 1998 referendum on whether to create a London
mayor and London Assembly.
- Counter: some referendums have attracted higher turnout, and further referendums have been
requested.
- The EU referendum for example, experienced 72% turnout, a record high for a UK-wide
referendum, suggesting that the public does want the chance to have their say.
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