A-A* Paper 1 essay plans contains recent examples as of .
Topics include are:
- Democracy
- Political Parties
-Electoral Systems
- Voting Behaviour and the Media
Core ideologies:
- Socialism
- Liberalism
- Conservatism
Using the source, evaluate the view that the UK Democracy is in crisis [30]
Intro:
- The question of whether UK democracy is in crisis is important as it questions the
legitimacy and authority of politicians and raises issues
- surrounding participation.
- The source poses arguments that political participation is decreasing, as is turnout and
trust in politicians, as well as arguing the new political institutions have had little impact.
The point regarding trust in politicians has slight merit however the others do not hold
merit when examined in light of the evidence at hand.
- There is no crisis of the UK’s democratic process due to the increase in the media’s
ability to hold politicians to account for their actions; new, indirect forms of participation
created through social media; and an increased turnout in recent elections and
referendums thus indicating a rise in political engagement
- Hence, view that UK democracy is in crisis is misfounded
UK Democracy IN Crisis UK Democracy NOT in crisis
- Those in favour of this view would argue that UK - The decline in trust and turnout is not due to long-term
democracy is in crisis due to the lack of participation which social forced, but to short-term political ones.
risks having detrimental effects on the UK political system. - E.G: Questions over David Cameron's Greensill
- This is because, levels of trust in government and lobbying, and Johnson's flat refurbishment which have
confidence in the political system are lower than they were both resulted in many of the public calling out the
a little more than a decade ago. Conservative party for 'cronyism', and some
- This is important as it has encouraged a lack of faith in 'corruption'.
politicians as leaders. Democracy has suffered at the - *Additionally with the current government are getting
hands of this, as the close bond between MP and ostracised by the public. This is reflected through the
constituent has somewhat been corrupted. disastrous poll ratings of the Conservative Party. (45 %
- of British adults would vote for the Labour Party in a
general election, compared with 23% who would vote
for the Conservative Party.)
- Thus with new governments and individuals in power, it
is natural for these short term examples of 'sleaze' to
fall into the background.
- -As such, UK democracy is not in crisis as intervention
is not required. All that is required is for the
government and political system to organically evolve.
- This is corroborated by the source, stating that 'the
remedies for any 'crisis' largely lie in the hands of the
politicians themselves'- indicating it is not as
widespread as the entire UK political system.
- Source prompts the view that it is too simplistic to look
only at turnout levels to understand political participation.
, - This is because people are still engaged in politics.
- Electoral turnout has fallen sharply, as seen by events - E.G: There is a great deal of political engagement and
such as the 2001 general election. activity on social media.
- This suggests.. - The Independent encouraged the use of the hashtag
#refugeeswelcome. 651,494 posts used this,
demonstrating immense support for political issues
which would not be registered through the traditional
metric of support.
- Additionally, electoral turnout has improved steadily
since 2001.
- E.G:In 2019 it was 67%.
- Hence, rather than indicating a crisis, recent turnouts
indicate a strong recovery.
- This is true also when examining the turnouts of
important issues.
- E.G: The 2014 Scottish Independence referendum
turnout was 85%. And The 2016 Brexit referendum was
72%.
- In reality,'constitutional change should not be regarded
as a quick fix.' This is true as it has had a genuine
impact.
- The establishment of the Supreme Court in 2009 has
strengthened the distance between the three branches
- The introduction of new political institutions since 1997, of government: judiciary, executive and legislature.
designed in part to restore people's trust and confidence, - The is important for democracy as it enables the
appears to have had little impact. branches can scrutinise and check each other,
- Thus the attempted remedy has not worked and UK preventing one branch from overriding the will of the
democracy is still suffering in a 'crisis'. people.
- E.G:The Supreme Court ruling in 2019, stating Johnon's
prorogation of Parliament was 'unlawful' and thus forcing
Parliament to remain sitting.
- The SC thus made sure representation continued,
enhancing democracy in the UK and undermining the
idea of a 'crisis'.
- Constitutional reform has served to improve both the
integrity and representation of UK politics. The notion of
a 'crisis' is misplaced.
, Evaluate the view that Representative Democracy is superior to Direct Democracy [30]
Intro:
- The UK adopts a representative democracy, where voters elect MPs / Politicians to
represent their view. This means politicians act as vessels for the people’s opinions. It
could be argued that this form of democracy is not legitimate and limits a healthy
democracy due to our electoral system (FPTP) where it limits the minority views. Hence
not being able to fully represent the entire population.
- Direct democracy on the other hand can be seen to be more democratic since citizens
themselves actively participate and make political decisions instead of relying on a
representative.
- However, the UK to some extent adopts this form of democracy trough the use of
Referendums.
- Despite this direct democracy can be unhealthy as it can lead to the tyranny of the
majority and create an unfair advantage to those who are wealthy. The use of this
democracy is also not suitable for the majority of society and hence cannot be more
superior.
In conclusion, representative democracy is superior to direct democracy. Direct democracy may
let people participate directly in decision-making but representative democracy means that
professional politicians are elected instead, which is much more practical
Yes R.D IS Superior No R.D NOT Superior
- Representative democracy allows society to elect and - Some claim that D.D is in fact more superior since a
legislate politicians that reflect their view. These R.D can cultivate a harmful democracy since the
politicians are often regarded to a high standard and elected representative may not represent the views of
have greater expertise and experience than the the public.
average citizen. - Hence this form of democracy cannot always
- By electing a representative the people can rely on guarantee people’s choice. R.D is unstable.
those elected to have their views expressed - E.G: This was seen when Boris Johnson was elected
- E.G: Seen when Tony Blair was elected in 1997 by a by an 80 seat majority due to his manifesto. Yet most
wide majority where many agreed with his manifesto to of those promises written in it were not fulfilled.
reform the constitution in order to fit with modern *To provide extra funding for the NHS, with 50,000
society. more nurses*
- This suggests that the citizens don't have to actively -
participate in politics to have their opinions voiced since
they can elect a trustworthy PM or representative to do
so.
- Hence claim that a Representative Democracy is
superior to a direct one is accurate.
- Despite there being risks of representatives ignoring - Countries with a R.D can lead to small parties to not
the public’s opinion, they can still be held accountable win.
in the next general election or within their own party. - E.G: UK who adopts the FPTP as its electoral
, - E.G: Effectively seen when Tony Blair’s government system, cultivates a two-party system.
took a fall in 2008 despite his 11 years of being elected - Hence those who vote for smaller parties can often
by a great majority. have their opinions overlooked, therefore cannot be
- E.G: Seen recently when Liz Truss was forced to represented.E.G: UKIP party was only assigned
resign as PM due to failing her promise to improve 1/650 seats in Parliament despite receiving 12.7% of
UK’s economy. vote in 2019 GE
- This suggest that R.D can always hold those elected by
the public to represent their views to account
regardless.
- This also enables it to avoid tyranny of the majority by
taking into interest the whole nation’s views.
- Hence despite its limitation R.D has a measure to limit
its corruption trough providing a sort of check. Hence
having the ability to restore democracy therefore
proving its superiority.
- Representatives can implement unpopular but
important and necessary policies that the public may - Some may claim that because of the low public
avoid in a D.D environment. interest and participation that a R.D promotes, can
- E.G: This is seen trough the use of referendums in the leave important decisions to a small elite.
UK, (a form of direct democracy). Turnouts to these - Hence this factor prevents a R.D from adopting a
referendums are extremely low and so government healthy democracy and therefore be undemocratic
tends to limit their use unless a constitutional trough granting power to a minority and most
amendment is required. importantly not to the people (public).
- This explains why there have been a total of 13 - This can be done trough referendums where
referendums in UK’s history since public does not wish government manipulates its wording and phrase to
to or have the time to partake in them regularly. give the results the government is in favour of
- E.G: The 2011 Electoral reform referendum had a - E.G: In the 1997 Scottish Parliament Referendum,
voting turnout of 42%. the government split the question into two parts. The
- Despite it being a major issue many did not vote which one about the controversial use of tax in the last.
could suggest that certain issues such changing the Henc government arguably raise its chance that the
electoral system does not interest the public as much Parliament vote would be successful.
and hence voting a representative that can choose for
them with their opinions in mind far suppresses the
abilities of a D.D.
- Hence a R.D proves to be more suitable for a modern
society since the average citizen will not have time to
immerse themselves into all the political debates.
Hence the need for a R.D is far superior.
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