Democracy & Participation: Summary
Direct Democracy: Recall of MPs act 2015 triggering a by-election (2018 Ian Paisley Jn survived a recall petition, but
only 9.4% of his constituents signed it), referendums (Indy ref/EU), electronic petitions (100,000 threshold – can be
trivialised Zombie apocalypse), consultative exercises (Heathrow and ‘Plane Stupid’), open primaries.
ADVANTAGES: purest form of democracy, people are genuinely making the decisions, encourages participation
(allows for debate), decisions have legitimacy and popular consent.
DISADVANTAGES: tyranny of the majority, hard to define yes/no, minority views unrepresented, lacks pluralism, the
majority view is not always wise/moral/legal.
Representative democracy: indirect democracy – people vote for representative that take decisions on their behalf
- The presence of parties/pressure groups suggests a pluralist democracy – power is not concentrated
- Constituency representative: some MPs voted to trigger Article 50 based on how their constituents voted in
the EU referendum
- Burkean model: “your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays,
instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your own opinion”
ADVANTAGES: pluralist democracy so lots of views represented, people with time/expertise make decisions,
accountable to the public, people have a representative to raise concerns or seek redress.
DISADVANTAGES: elitism, less participation (only periodic general elections), less clear that individual decisions have
legitimacy/mandate/popular consent, second jobs (George Osbourne chancellor and editor of Evening Standard)
Widening the Franchise: 1832 GRA (some middle class men), 1867 SRA (doubles electorate to 2mil), 1884 TRA (most
working men), 1918 Rep of People Act (marriage, graduate, property owning women over 30, all men over 21), 1928
RPA (all adults over 21), 1969 RPA (21 to 18), 2016 Scottish elections (16+ can vote)
- 1903: WSPU founded by Emmeline Pankhurst
- 1918: 8.5 million women able to vote
- 1929: the ‘Flapper election’ women able to vote for the first time – working class women
ARGUMENTS FOR 16+ VOTES: many policies affect 16/17 (education funding and minimum wage), encourages
participation and education, turnout amongst said cohort was good in the Scottish independence referendum in
2014.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST: 18-24 is the lowest turnout, lack of life experiences, do not have full adult responsibilities as
they are in full time education, majority of 16/17 were not even registered to vote in the 2021 Senedd elections,
children could be more susceptible to popularism.
Participation crisis – circular reasoning – turnout:
1950 GE 83.9%
2001 59.4%
2019 67.3%
1918-2017 average 72.9%
East Grinstead council election May 2024 27.8%
Democratic deficit: democratic institutions that do not meet democratic principles – low turnout undermines
mandate and legitimacy
- High turnout in referendums: EU (72.2%) and Indy referendum (84.6%)
Direct Democracy: Recall of MPs act 2015 triggering a by-election (2018 Ian Paisley Jn survived a recall petition, but
only 9.4% of his constituents signed it), referendums (Indy ref/EU), electronic petitions (100,000 threshold – can be
trivialised Zombie apocalypse), consultative exercises (Heathrow and ‘Plane Stupid’), open primaries.
ADVANTAGES: purest form of democracy, people are genuinely making the decisions, encourages participation
(allows for debate), decisions have legitimacy and popular consent.
DISADVANTAGES: tyranny of the majority, hard to define yes/no, minority views unrepresented, lacks pluralism, the
majority view is not always wise/moral/legal.
Representative democracy: indirect democracy – people vote for representative that take decisions on their behalf
- The presence of parties/pressure groups suggests a pluralist democracy – power is not concentrated
- Constituency representative: some MPs voted to trigger Article 50 based on how their constituents voted in
the EU referendum
- Burkean model: “your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays,
instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your own opinion”
ADVANTAGES: pluralist democracy so lots of views represented, people with time/expertise make decisions,
accountable to the public, people have a representative to raise concerns or seek redress.
DISADVANTAGES: elitism, less participation (only periodic general elections), less clear that individual decisions have
legitimacy/mandate/popular consent, second jobs (George Osbourne chancellor and editor of Evening Standard)
Widening the Franchise: 1832 GRA (some middle class men), 1867 SRA (doubles electorate to 2mil), 1884 TRA (most
working men), 1918 Rep of People Act (marriage, graduate, property owning women over 30, all men over 21), 1928
RPA (all adults over 21), 1969 RPA (21 to 18), 2016 Scottish elections (16+ can vote)
- 1903: WSPU founded by Emmeline Pankhurst
- 1918: 8.5 million women able to vote
- 1929: the ‘Flapper election’ women able to vote for the first time – working class women
ARGUMENTS FOR 16+ VOTES: many policies affect 16/17 (education funding and minimum wage), encourages
participation and education, turnout amongst said cohort was good in the Scottish independence referendum in
2014.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST: 18-24 is the lowest turnout, lack of life experiences, do not have full adult responsibilities as
they are in full time education, majority of 16/17 were not even registered to vote in the 2021 Senedd elections,
children could be more susceptible to popularism.
Participation crisis – circular reasoning – turnout:
1950 GE 83.9%
2001 59.4%
2019 67.3%
1918-2017 average 72.9%
East Grinstead council election May 2024 27.8%
Democratic deficit: democratic institutions that do not meet democratic principles – low turnout undermines
mandate and legitimacy
- High turnout in referendums: EU (72.2%) and Indy referendum (84.6%)
