Parliament and democracy
Mill (philosopher) – giving everyone a voice in the democratc roceee ie the beet way of
eneuring eo le’ intereete are not overlooked
2. Practcal reaeone for referring democratc government
having a voice romotee the fouriehing of individuale (intellectual and moral) > beter
government eociety
harneeeing wiedom, ineight and ex erience of many eo le = beter reeulte
Plato – governing ie a com licated bueineee, that few eo le are qualifed to do and that the
maeeee might well be ill-equi ed to identty euch eo le
Calling a general electon
- Difficultee of fxed-term arliamente (electone every 5 yeare)
o Government may loee confdent of commone -> ‘lame duck’ government
unable to get bille enacted
o would be undermined by traditonal rule allowing a no-confdence vote to
lead to dieeoluton
- Fixed-term Parliamente Act 2011?
The votng system
- Firet- aet-the- oet (FPTP) - UK into 650 conettuenciee, each with 1 MP > candidate
- Ieeuee with FPTP
Not all votee are equal
FPTP may roduce Commone that doee not cloeely refect how eo le
voted
number of eeate doeen’t refect number of votee vaet – dieadvantagee
emall artee - UKIP (2016)
beet euited to two- arty eyetem of olitce
‘gerry-mandering’ = mani ulatng boundariee to infuence electon
reeulte
Reform
- im rove turnout by holding electone at weekende/allowing online votng
- FPTP
o diecouragee votere – feeling vote will not count ae arty unlikely to win eeat
o encouragee tactcal votng e.g. votng lib dem to avoid labor winning, ae
coneervatvee etand no chance
o ueually delivere clear majority and ie eim le for eo le to underetand
- ro ortonal re reeentaton?
- 2011 referendum on electoral reform o ted to retain FPTP
Mill (philosopher) – giving everyone a voice in the democratc roceee ie the beet way of
eneuring eo le’ intereete are not overlooked
2. Practcal reaeone for referring democratc government
having a voice romotee the fouriehing of individuale (intellectual and moral) > beter
government eociety
harneeeing wiedom, ineight and ex erience of many eo le = beter reeulte
Plato – governing ie a com licated bueineee, that few eo le are qualifed to do and that the
maeeee might well be ill-equi ed to identty euch eo le
Calling a general electon
- Difficultee of fxed-term arliamente (electone every 5 yeare)
o Government may loee confdent of commone -> ‘lame duck’ government
unable to get bille enacted
o would be undermined by traditonal rule allowing a no-confdence vote to
lead to dieeoluton
- Fixed-term Parliamente Act 2011?
The votng system
- Firet- aet-the- oet (FPTP) - UK into 650 conettuenciee, each with 1 MP > candidate
- Ieeuee with FPTP
Not all votee are equal
FPTP may roduce Commone that doee not cloeely refect how eo le
voted
number of eeate doeen’t refect number of votee vaet – dieadvantagee
emall artee - UKIP (2016)
beet euited to two- arty eyetem of olitce
‘gerry-mandering’ = mani ulatng boundariee to infuence electon
reeulte
Reform
- im rove turnout by holding electone at weekende/allowing online votng
- FPTP
o diecouragee votere – feeling vote will not count ae arty unlikely to win eeat
o encouragee tactcal votng e.g. votng lib dem to avoid labor winning, ae
coneervatvee etand no chance
o ueually delivere clear majority and ie eim le for eo le to underetand
- ro ortonal re reeentaton?
- 2011 referendum on electoral reform o ted to retain FPTP
