Democracy in the UK
Direct democracy comprises a form of democracy and theory of civics
where all citizens can directly participate in the decision-making
process.
Direct democracy in its traditional form is rule by the people through
referenda. The people are given the right to pass laws, veto laws and
withdraw support from a representative at any time. In the United
States when specific direct democracy issues, other than the election
of representatives, reach a local- or state-level ballot, they are
commonly referred to by local and state governments as "ballot
questions" or "ballot measures".
B) Explain the main features of indirect democracy.
Indirect democracy is when elected representatives act behalf on the
people who have chosen them.
The most common system found in today's democracies is the
representative democracy. The people elect government officials who
then make decisions on their behalf. Essentially, a representative
democracy is a form of indirect democracy in which representatives are
democratically selected, and usually difficult to recall.
Indirect democracy is more effective given the size of society.
Therefore it is impossible (currently) to take into considerations the
views of all members of society on all decisions.
Once the representative is chosen he is given a certain amount of time
to do his or her job, in the UKthis is 5 years although the PM can
choose to call elections at anytime. There is a peaceful transition of
power which goes to show that the system is a peaceful one.
Indirect democracy relieves the "ordinary" citizen of decision making
and leaves it to the ""experts"...
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...t be undemocratic but
it is a sort of a flaw in the system. Personally I think that Apathy
show the lack of legitimacy because just because people do not vote
does not mean that they are ok with the current system. The fact that
an average adult can only vote 11 times in his life time proves that
the freedom of choice is very limited. There is no Bill OF Rights,
this means that the always can be changed with each changing
government. Government secrecy allows the state to keep facts about
matters such as public health issues secret for up to 30 years. There
is also the chance of corruption as has been proven with the
conviction of 2 cabinet ministers in the 1990's.
Finally I think that UK is one of the more democratic states in the
world although it does not fully fit into the criteria of a real
democratic state.
In recent times the in the UK we have seen the more frequent use of
The Two Party System of UK It has often been said that the United Kingdom possesses a two party political system. However, any balanced argument on this issue must take into account both the differing perspectives from which this subject can be viewed and the time period which is being evaluated. The two party theory is not universally accepted and many people argue that the UK can best be described as a multi party, dominant party or even a two and a half or three party system, depending on how the subject is approached. The most commonly held view is that Britain is a two party system.
Democracy has been a topic discussed for hundreds of years and a general idea of the topic would be the “governing of people by the people”. Many people have attempted “to sketch characteristics, or outcomes or preconditions, because democracy itself” (4) has been seen to be a difficult concept to define. In John L Anderson’s ‘What is Democracy?’ (2004) he takes an alternative approach to understanding democracy. Anderson explains that there is no “tidy set of ideas”, but rather “an indirect approach to defining democracy” (4) in order to understand and teach the concept of democracy. He states that there are four notion to achieve this: seeking the public interest helps us develop a morality based upon concern for others; governing others
UK as a Strong Liberal Democracy A liberal democracy is a representative system with some of the same characteristics as a representative democracy as it has free elections and decisions are made based on popular command. But a representative democracy can therefore be seen as elitist as a small number of people govern the majority. Whereas a liberal democracy includes the ideas of having varied focuses of political and economic power, an open government which is fair and responsible and an independent judiciary system. Also in a liberal democracy the government has limited power as constraints are placed upon the power of ruling government. The difference between a representative democracy and a liberal democracy is that a liberal democracy concentrates upon diversity, choice and individual rights and freedom.
Party Politics in the UK Today Since the 1970s, and the decline to the two party system, party politics in the UK has emerged as a multi-party society with an ever increasing sense on global politics. However, despite the 'new' system of a multi-party political system, there have been episodes of one party dominance in government. Political parties pre-1970 were mainly built upon the class divide that existed in Britain.
America's Democracy The United States of America is a republic, or representative democracy. Democracy, a word that comes to us from Greek, literally means the people rule (Romance, July 8). This broad definition leaves unanswered a few important details such as who are the people, how shall they rule, and what should they rule on (July 8). Defining the answers to those questions means defining a model for a democratic system.
Throughout the course of history, mankind has been recorded to corrupt itself. Men have grown tired of simply surviving; they have had to take and conquer others. Absolute monarchies control wealth, land, and even lives of men. The conditions of the people were solely dependent on the conditions of the one who was in power in that particular place and time. History has proven that most men rule unwisely in their kingdoms. To avoid tyrannical rule, some make an attempt to set up a government in which the people ruled themselves. This form of government is called a democracy, or “rule of the people.” History has also revealed through the Greeks and the French Revolution, that a democracy that gives complete power to the people, “absolute democracy”, is nothing more than a short prelude to tyranny.
The Constitution of the United States of America is seen as a vastly democratic document, allowing democracy to flourish here. But is it truly as democratic as believed? Was a democracy even the intended goal of the writers? Well we’ll just have to figure that out. Starting with, who the writers of the Constitution were. Then what a pure democracy even is. Followed by four separate parts of the Constitution and the extent to which that they are democratic. Ending with the answer to our question.
Kyi Suu San Aung. "The Quest of Democracy." Reading The World: Ideas That Matter, edited
Conservative Dominance in British Politics There are many different factors which contributed to the Conservative dominance of the period between 1885 and 1905. For one, the electoral reform of Gladstone's second ministry had a large effect on the Conservatives period in office as did the skill of Salisbury as a leader. The role that the government took in terms of its policies and foreign policy, and the nature of support for the party also played important roles in the conservative dominance. This is because the Conservatives lost working class support during its ministry, yet still managed to dominate politics for nearly twenty years.
According to Linz, term limits in presidentialism force a president to serve a country for a fixed period of time
people must be educated to make effective and well-informed decisions. This is one reason why
The British Electoral System In democratic states, electoral systems are of great importance. Elections give people the right to choose their government; ensure that governments represent the majority (or largest minority) of the people; ensure peaceful changes of government (stability); allow people with fresh ideas an opportunity to enter the political arena; confer legitimacy of government and allow the government to expect people to obey their rules. Unfortunately the British system, Simple Plurality, (also known as 'First Past The Post') has come under fire for its alleged discrimination against smaller parties and its tendency to allow the losing party the ability to rule. Therefore, this creates a question - is the British system fair and democratic, or is it in need of drastic change? There is no denying that the British system has its advantages.
The idea of an ideal democracy is not a particularly obtainable idea, considering the different in culture and history of countries this could be a dramatic change to previous authoritarian regimes. Although we can work towards this idea of an ideal democracy reaching this goal will be a much harder task. The attributes that contribute to having an ideal democracy are free and fair elections, their capability to implement policies, political participation of the masses and universal adult suffrage, and a multiple party political system.
In today’s world, democracy faces everyday challenges. These challenges affect each and every country. Each country has a particular way of encountering these challenges in order for the citizens to have some type of voice. The voice of the people makes a stronger impact on using democracy as a means to challenge the government of their country. As we take a look at the countries in the world today, we will see the path towards the challenges to democracy.