Evaluate the view that various electoral systems in the UK make significant differences in party
representation
Strong argument - FPTP can decrease representation
92% Lib Dem votes made redundant in 2019 GE
Lib Dems needed ten times as many votes per seat, 11.5% of vote resulted in just 1.7% of
seats
32% voters voted tactically 2019
2015 UKIP got 3.8 million votes and just one seat
Weak argument - FPTP can be somewhat representative
Strong argument - AMS representative (Scotland/Wales)
Weak argument - means coalition parties so may less representative in policies able to get through
Evaluate the view that referendums are the best form of direct democracy currently in operation in
the UK
Argument: referendums are not the best form of direct democracy
1 - referendums
Why are they bad
Exposed and deepened divides between regions, is NI really united? Doesn't even have a functioning
government
Divided Scotland and England, divided young and older people, divided the north and south, divided
classes
UK's political stability has been significantly compromised by Brexit referendum
Counter - why referendums are good
EU referendum was one of the greatest democratic exercises in British political history
2 - e-petitions
Easy to set up, only 5 people's signatures needed to trigger one
Between 2010 and 2015 the HOC library reported that 23 million people had signed an E-petition on
its website
Petitions with over 100k signatures will be considered for debate in parliament, actions can be the
first step in process to change laws
Period poverty campaign began with an E-petition to scrap the tampon tax and resulted in the
scrapping on VAT on sanitary products
Counter -
Many E-petitions aren't debated at all in parliament which could put people off signing
Between 2017-19 over 8000 e-petitions were launched on parliament's website and only 450 of
these received a governmental response
E-petitions may not also be taken seriously due to their topic nature, ridiculous ones
, 3 - recall petitions
Recall of MPs act 2015 brought the right to sack an MP before an election is due if they are
convicted of a criminal offence or are suspended from the HOC
2023 Margaret Ferrier suspended for 30 days for breaking COVID restrictions by taking part in a
commons debate whilst awaiting a COVID test result and then taking a train home after being
positive, 15% signatures surpassed minimum needed
Use some examples from notes
Counter -
Use some examples from notes
Chris Davies 2019, despite being recalled after falsifying his expense claims still stood in the
byelection, did come close to holding onto his seat and was free to stand in any forthcoming election
in the future
Parliament has to approve whether a petition is held, can lead to bias
Despite his involvement in lobbying scandal 2021 Owen Patterson was initially supported by Johnson
who whipped his MPs to prevent further sanctions
Ian Paisley Sri Lanka scandal but recall petition failed to garner enough signatures so kept his seat
Is there a participation crisis in the UK?
Strong argument - FPTP causing lower turn out
Voter turnout was down 1.5% from 2021 in the 2024 London mayoral election after it moved
from supplementary to FPTP
Tories won 44.9% of the vote in 2019 GE this only accounted for 29.7% of the current
electorate
The last time there was a general election turnout over 84% was 1950
Turnout at 2019 GE was 67%
92% of lib democrat votes discarded in 2019, people feel it is not worth voting for other
parties
Weak argument - FPTP can encourage people to vote as is simple
2019 and 2015 elections provided a clear majority for the conservatives
Meanwhile Labour, who grew unpopular under Corbyn, fell to their lowest number of seats
since 1935 in 2017
Strong argument - political participation has been replaced by pressure groups
Political party membership has halved since 1983
2022 1.5% of the electorate were members of the Tories, labour, or lib Dems
Links to considerable party dealignment in recent years
2015 audit of political engagement found on 30% of the public claimed to be a strong
supported of a particular political party
General elections only held every 5 years so people look to pressure groups instead
Royal society for the protection of birds has more members than the three main political
parties combined and doubled
Weak argument - political participation is high in some groups and the role of pressure
groups can be overestimated
During Scottish independence referendum 80% of 16-17 year olds registered to vote
In 2013 SNP membership stood at 20k but in 2024 it is now at 74k
2019 audit found a 4% increase in the number of people who considered themselves a
strong supporter of a particular political party
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