Summary People and Politics Notes

Democracy & Participation
 Democracy: Rule by the people
o Direct Democracy:
 People make key political decisions
 Ancient Athens
 Referenda
o Representative Democracy:
 People represented by individuals
 Representatives mediate between different sections of
society
o Liberal Democracy
 Accountable government
 Free, fair elections
 Peaceful transfer of power
 Protected rights
 Controlled government
 Variety tolerated
 E.g. USA
o Pluralist Democracy
 Liberal Democracy
 Large range of political parties
 Many accesses to power
 Wide variety
 Power widely dispersed
 E.g. Germany
o Parliamentary Democracy
 Liberal Democracy
 Sovereign Parliament
 Government drawn from Parliament
 E.g. UK
 Burkean Representation
o Elected representative aren’t delegates
o Representative use their own judgement in the best interests of their
constituents
 Parliamentary Representation
o Balance between:
 Their own judgement
 Party policy
 Constituents interests
 Party Delegation
o Increasingly disciplined and monolithic
o Toe the party line
o Voters vote on manifestos not on the MP