...To what extent does democracy in the UK, suffer from a ‘participation crisis’? (25 marks) One main concern to why people would argue that the UK is suffering from ‘participation crisis’ is due to a decrease in social capital.The argument is that there is a lack of connection as people are more concerned about themselves, rather than the larger society and general public. This lack of connection leads the public to have a lack of engagement towards politics, meaning less people are interested in how the uk is governed. People of the public have said that they are less willing to take part in deciding national issues in Europe as they have described it to be ‘boring’, they argued that they have less trust and lack a sense of socialness towards politics. Reports from ‘Department of Business’ showed that in 2012 statistics show that only 6.5 million employees were trade union members; which has hugely decreased from the 13 million trade union members in 1979. THis is evidence of how Britain suffers from a large participation crisis. Another recent argument put forward by a journalist, Aman Ubhi from ‘ShoutOutUK’ argues that the UK suffers from a participation crisis due to the public’s social life and a lack of timing to commit to politics. He concluded that the majority of the public argued that “my vote will not make a difference regardless” which results to fewer people getting involved in politics. This lack of participation is shown in election turnouts. Looking at past...
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...To what extent does democracy in the UK suffer from a ‘participation crisis’? There has been a decrease in the general election turnouts, suggesting a participation crisis that can arguably cause the party that gains the position of govt. to lack legitimacy. In 2001 the general election turnout was 59 per cent. Furthermore, there has been a gradual decline in party membership numbers for the three main parties, signifying partisan dealignment, less than 1 per cent of the UK’s electorate is currently part of the Conservatives, Labour or Lib Dems. Additionally, participation in other areas of UK politics such as the election of MEP’s, is showing an obvious participation crisis, resulting in the party UKIP dominating the UK for the EU parliament, the turnout for 2014 was 34 per cent. Lastly, further emphasising the current participation crisis in the UK referendum turnouts have been traditionally low, this means decisions implemented based on these results lack legitimacy, the turnout for the AV referendum in 2011 was 42 per cent. However, contrary to previous turnout figures the Scottish devolution referendum had a historic turnout of 85 per cent, suggesting that the current participation crisis democracy in the UK is improving. Moreover, although party membership for the UK is currently at a historic low, pressure group membership has increased dramatically. Suggesting, the electorate are turning to pressure groups for more effective representation. Noticeably, the pressure group...
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...Essay : To what extent does democracy in the UK suffer from a ‘participation crisis’? Political participation is defined as opportunities for and tendencies of the people to become involved in the political process. At a minimum level this will involve voting, but may also involve active work in political parties and pressure groups. At the higher/highest level it implies standing for public office. However with regards to the United Kingdom suffering from a participation crisis, I would like to agree. Simply because, there has been a low turnout at general elections, which undermines the mandate of the government and threatens the idea that the UK is a representative democracy. Between 1922 and 1997 turnout remained above 71%. At the 2001 general election the turnout was59.4%; in 2005 it was 61.4%; in 2010 it was 65.1%; and in 2015 it was66.1%. Various people may consider the minor increase in percentage but overall there has not been a significant increase. Key forms of participation, such as voting and party membership have declined significantly over time, but other newer, faster forms have arisen and are slowly becoming more popular to the newer generations such as Referendums, particularly in Scotland. Popular engagement with the formal processes and institutions of democracy has been in long – term decline since the 1960’s. The turnout in 2001 was the lowest; this is compared to how between 1945 and 1992 it was always about 75 percent. Through this, it can be seen that...
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...WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? Andrew Heywood The origins of the term 'democracy' can be traced back to Ancient Greece. Like other words ending in 'cracy' - autocracy, aristocracy, bureaucracy and so on -democracy is derived from the Greek word kratos, meaning 'power' or 'rule'. Democracy thus stands for 'rule by the demos', demos meaning 'the people', though it was originally taken to imply 'the poor' or 'the many'. However, the simple notion of 'rule by the people' does not get us very far. The problem with democracy has been its very popularity, a popularity that has threatened the term's undoing as a meaningful political concept. In being almost universally regarded as a 'good thing', democracy has come to used as little more than a 'hurrah! word', implying approval of a particular set of ideas or system of rule. Perhaps a more helpful starting point from which to consider the nature of democracy is provided by Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, delivered in 1864 at the height of the American Civil War. Lincoln extolled the virtues of what he called 'government of the people, by the people, and for the people'. What this makes clear is that democracy serves to link government to the people, but that this link can be forged in a number of ways - government of, by and for the people. Nevertheless, the precise nature of democratic rule has been the subject of fierce ideological and political debate. The next section will look at alternative models of democracy. For the...
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...2014 Defining Democracy Democracy began in ancient Mesopotamia and continued on through classical Greece and Rome then towards the rise of Islamic civilization to the modern day in the United States. It has gone through its trials and tribulations to become what it is today and continues to change and grow. Democracy is defined in the Merriam Webster dictionary as "a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections " Also has been defined as a government "Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth." by our 16th president Abraham Lincoln. Elements that a government must have to be considered a democracy are that it must have a political system for electing and re-electing new officials for the government through free and fair elections. Furthermore, it needs an active participation of the citizens in politics and everyday life, all citizens must have protection of their human rights, and there has to be a rule of law, which is when the laws apply equally to all citizens. A government must comprise of all these elements in order to be called a legitimate democracy. Elections are key for a democracy. Elections provide the citizens of that country an opportunity to choose someone they accept in the given office and it also gives them a right to freedom of choice. Democracy is the freedom of...
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...question whether youngsters’ participation in the umbrella movement can be explained by Merton’s strains towards anomie theory. To answer such question, it would be required to consider and descript few key terms stated in the question, followed by the linkages and applicability between those terms with detailed justification and draw proper conclusion at last. I tentatively would say yes to the given question before making my deeper explanation. Merton’s anomie theory composes three elements including cultural structures, social structure and anomie. Taken together, the mismatch between cultural structure and social structure and strains towards anomie on part of individual form two conditions for anomie (Merton, 1938). Beside Merton’s theory, it is crucial to define what youngsters’ participation and umbrella movement stand for. A random poll conducted in Central, Mong Kok and Causeway Bay during 20 to 26 of October 2014 showed that 61% of participants in the umbrella movement was under 29 years old (Cheng and Yuen, 2014). Therefore, Youngsters’ participation in the umbrella movement may refer to students or those aged below 29, while this was a youngster-led protest movement, which aimed at changing Hong Kong’s Chief Executive election system, initiated by classes boycotts and assumed as an unauthorized and illegal protest. The focus of the discussion would then lay on how Merton’s strains towards anomie theory can be applied on youngsters’ participation in the umbrella movement...
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...Britain is broadly described as a democracy. A nation where the people choose their leaders and hold them accountable for their policies and their conduct in office. The people decide who will represent them in parliament, and who will head the government at the national and local levels. They do so by choosing between competing parties in regular, free and fair elections. Some people say that participation is the key to democracy. If a certain group of society do not vote, or there is apathy in voting turnouts, then there isn’t a fair outcome. For example, 2003 saw Labour leader Tony Blair declare war in Iraq. Despite the media’s portrayal and lack of support for Blair on his decision, he was re-elected as priminister in the 2005 UK general elections. This made a lot of people upset and angry. However, the turnout for that election was low (61.4%) so it could be argued that because Britain is a democracy, the general public are the soul blame for the outcome of the election. On the other hand, people believe that Britain cannot be a democracy if public participation is so low. They believe that to be a real democracy, the whole population must get involved and have a say. So when only over half of those eligible to vote do, there are questions to be asked as to whether the UK could be defined as such. There has been an increase in pressure groups. They can use a variety of different methods to influence law. These groups most often seem more important than political parties...
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...Abstract: Today, we struggle with extremes- that of apathy towards civic participation on one hand and on the other hand, witness campaigns and protests against an existing system. Much of transformation has been brought about in the society recently in various spheres; right of women to enter certain religious places, voices against corruption to name a few where there was large scale public participation. Public engagement and participation is manifestation of civic literacy- a 21st century skill, which is a pre-requisite for transparent, democratic governance. The ubiquitous social networking today, integrated with every sphere of one's daily life including education, holds potential of being used in different ways to make civic education more engaging and meaningful. Most of the youth today, is active on one or more social media with high participation. Large scale participation on social media campaigns for 'causes' like the Ice bucket challenge has shown that social media can have a wider impact...
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...Analysis of Democracy in Brazil and Chile Hagopian vents her frustration towards the democratization of Latin American countries by describing it as “flawed both because it does not take account of differences across the region and because it is overly static” (pg.125). The clarity in transitioning into a democracy in Latin American countries has not been defined uniformly that there are clear differences amongst the effectiveness of democracy in specific countries. Hagopian specifically uses Chile and Brazil as her examples of “the dimensions of Democratic quality.” She uses these two countries as a comparison to distinguish the characteristics of a “good” democracy, which would include both the participation and satisfaction of the citizens of the country. Amongst most of the Latin American countries, Chile and Brazil has become amongst the strongest democratic countries and can become a lot stronger with improvements. However, both countries vary in strengths between different dimensions of quality that defines a “good” democracy. These variances are analyzed by Hagopian to determine the degree of effectiveness by considering accountability, participation and responsiveness between governance and individuals as a reciprocal relationship. Recommendable changes are necessary for both Chile and Brazil to continuously prosper politically, civilly and together economically. Although both Chile and Brazil are developing predominant democratic reputations, their contrasts in democratic...
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...reform, that have been suggested to improve democracy in the UK. Democracy in the UK has declined since the post war dramatically, this is shown in many ways. Participation levels have fallen majorly in the past years and mainly due to the reason that people feel their votes are wasted and so they're not being represented in society and this is the main way that democracy has fallen this has clearly been shown in statistics whereby the norms for general election turn outs was at a high 75% however in the year 2005 it has dropped considerably to 60%. The first, most effective way of improving democracy is to increase the use of the referendum. through this strategy, it will ensure that the public is educated about the political issues at hand and therefore will be more willing to vote in political matters as they understand the question given. Also, through the use of referenda it will increase the legitimacy of the government as the people have given their consent through their vote, especially as the referendum is the most direct form of democracy. This has been shown to be a positive and effective way of increasing participation levels as in the 2014 Scottish Independence referendum when the participation rate was up to 87% which is the highest turnout since the 1950 general election. This would make the UK more democratic as it would include all parts of society whilst having all views expressed. Improving democracy in such a way does have problems. Too many referendums...
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...AMERICAN GOVERNMENT Citizen Participation: Chapters 7 – 12 “Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.” 32nd four-term (1933-1945) U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt In this great democracy, the United States of America, there are twin pillars of our free society: individual freedoms and citizen participation. Chapters seven through twelve addresses citizen participation. Democracy is a political (governmental) system that began in ancient Greece. The early Greeks believed that all eligible voters not should, but must participate in government for there to truly be a system reflecting the will of its people. Although today few if any democracies have full participation, citizen involvement in politics is paramount. It is essential. Chapters seven through twelve examines the history, reasons and ways that citizens participate in American Democracy. Citizen participation is “front and center” in any democracy. Voting is among the many ways citizens can participate in their democracy. Voting is essential because it determines who will govern and control a society. Today across America we witness the rewrite of voting laws. Many state general assemblies/legislatures are passing laws that are viewed as restricting the “right to vote.” Such laws may require proof of personal identification when voting or prohibiting voting on Sundays. However...
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... CAN GET INVOLVED IN THE LAW MAKING PROCESS AND DEMOCRATIC VALUES OBJECTIVES * To state how one can convince everyone above the age of eighteen in Belvedere to participate in the law making process * To study factors affecting the full participation of the people living in belvedere. * To state how gender affects the law making process. * To state why public participation is important to democracy. * To suggest way in which implementation of the involvement of the community can be ensured and be democratic. METHODOLOGY The researcher engaged into mouth to mouth survey and researches from the internet plus books. By this the researcher asked people in the community in a systematic way were by she skipped every three houses before she could get into a question and answer situation. The researcher encountered people with an ignorant attitude who turned down such an interview and the major problem lies on the honesty of the person being interviewed as it is his or her own point of view. The researcher took into account most of the things which involved the survey from the articles of newspapers. FINDINGS Factors affecting the full participation of the people As adamant as people are most of them deliberately take being involved as a waste of time, or consumption of the wrong time at the wrong moment cause of the after effect of the post 2007-9 era. Most of the people lack knowledge or literacy of the meanings of the things...
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...direct democracy in the UK (25 marks) Direct democracy is a form of government in which all laws are created by a general vote of society. Direct Democracy is supposedly meant to remove the division between the government and the people being governed. The UK currently has a representative democracy with aspects of direct democracy. Direct democracy is genuine democracy in action. With popular participation emerges the precise and true view of all the citizenry. The people determine their future and shape accurately their society. There is no vacuum or distinction between the government and the people. For example this clear link can be seen in the case of the Scottish referendum on independence in 2014. However, the above may be more a reflection of an ideal and an aspiration than a functional practical possibility. In a large scale society direct democracy is not achievable, with voting population of almost 45 million. This means there is too many varying opinions for the public to come up with clear concise decisions. Representative Democracy requires the voter to vote for some candidate or party with whom they are very unlikely to agree on everything - the 'take it or leave it' option. Direct Democracy allows voters to vote on the issues separately. The problems with representative democracy can be seen in the case of the Liberal democrats as once they got into office very few of their policies came to fruition. However in general when representative democracy is used...
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...Electoral participation is important because it is necessary to ensure that the interests of the common people are accurately represented and that the future of American democracy is not threatened. The current state of electoral participation in the United States is highly troubling; over time, “both registration and the act of casting a ballot have been made easier . . . nonetheless voting and many forms of civic engagement have declined or stagnated” (Macedo, p52). This is counterintuitive; as one would expect that with an increase in accessibility to various forms of civic engagement electoral participation would rise. This decline in civic engagement is evident when looking at voter turnout over time, “in 1960, 63 percent of eligible Americans went to the polls. In 2000, that percentage had dropped to barely half of eligible Americans: 51 percent” (Macedo, p22). The main source of this rapid decline in voter turnout is from citizens of the age group 18-24, in which voter turnout in presidential elections dropped from “55 percent in 1972 to 43 percent in 2000” (Macedo,...
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...Indonesia as a Democracy A democracy is described as a government in which power and civic responsibility are shared by all citizens over the age 18, directly, or through elected individuals. Democracy functions based on majority rule and individual rights (Lord 2008). According to Dahl, there are five criteria that a country must meet to be considered democratic. He argues that a country must have inclusion, control of the agenda, enlightened understanding, effective participation, and voting equality at the decision stage (Dahl 1989). In addition to Dahl’s criteria, there are a number of other characteristics that make a country democratic. A democratic government allows adult citizens to elect their representatives - essentially the ability to fire and hire the representatives. Another important aspect in the democratic system is that majority rules in the election process, but individual rights are still protected. Next, a democracy must have individual rights. These rights include things such as freedom of religion and equal protection under the law. Another main criteria for a democratic country is free and fair elections. Free and fair elections must be held regularly for all levels of government with the opportunity to vote given to each adult citizen. For a country to be considered democratic, it must have citizen participation. Citizen participation is the key to democracy, with citizens having the right to express themselves and vote. Citizens living in a democratic...
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