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Asses the Various Measures. Other Than Electoral Reform, That Have Been Suggested to Improve Democracy.

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Assess the various measures, other than electoral reform, that have been suggested to improve democracy.

Democracy can be defined as an individual’s rights and liberties being protected in a liberal society and the ability to vote in fair, free elections. Sceptical nations have argued the democratic system in the UK is anything but democratic. Suggested ways to improve this would be to lower the voting age to 16, increase the use of referendums and reform the House of Lords to be an elected chamber.

On the one hand, the most important way to improve the democratic framework to the UK would be to increase the use of referendums. Considered to be the rawest form of direct democracy, it allows the electorate to cast their decision as a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer to what the executive may be asking. Examples of this include the 1975 EU referendum on whether Britain would remain in the EU, resulting in a turnout of 64% and the Scottish Independence referendum of 2014 which has a turnout of around 86%. The increase use of referendums would improve democracy in the UK because it would mean that citizens can directly respond to political concern, raising participation. It also checks on elective dictatorships- ensuring they are accountable to the public. From this, it is evident that increasing the use of referendums would improve democracy as it ensures the accountability of government and raised participation.

On the other hand, referendums would have a negative impact on democracy as it would lead to apathy. Increase use of referendums, especially when the only means of voting is by travelling to a polling station or posting, may lead to apathy among the electorate as they become disillusioned with constantly being questioned by the government. For example, only around 32% turned out to the whether London should have an elected mayor in 1998. Furthermore, the

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