Democracy means literally ‘rule by people’. However, it is a broad and imprecise term. Democracy refers to political systems in which the people are involved in decision-making in some way, either directly or indirectly. Direct democracy is when all individuals express their opinion themselves and not through representatives acting on their behalf. An example of direct democracy is a referendum. Representative democracy is a form of democracy in which an individual selects a person (or political party) to act on behalf to exercise political choice. The UK is an example of a representative democracy. There are ongoing debates about how democratic the UK is. The UK has a number of positive democratic features such as; devolved government, independent judiciary, free media, free and fair elections and a wide range of political parties and pressure groups. However the UK has also been criticised for having a …show more content…
This is where powers have been transferred from the UK parliament in London to the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh, the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff and the Northern Ireland Assembly in Belfast. This gives power to the local people to make laws better suited to that area. For example, the Welsh Assembly made all prescription medicine free as it benefited the poorest in their community. Therefore, the UK is democratic as power is not held in one place, it is distributed amongst official government bodies. However, there is still an underrepresentation of minority viewpoints due to the voting system. The HOuse of Commons is elected by the first-past-the-post system, which produces a mismatch between the votes cast for UK political parties and the seats that each party wins in parliament. For example in the 2015 general election, UKIP gained 12.6% of votes but only one seat in the House of Commons. Therefore, the UK is undemocratic as it does not accurately represent the views of the
The reforms of Devolution where power was transferred from Westminster to different elected bodies around the country. This makes the UK more democratic as power is no longer centralised and areas such as parts of Scotland, Wales and Ireland will not be neglected. However England itself does not have its own assembly and the fact that we cannot vote on certain things in areas of the UK, but everyone can vote in policies in England could be seen to be undemocratic. Overall this reform however has made the UK more democratic as it means areas will not be forgotten about and countries and areas within the UK can get specific things that that area may want or need more then others.
Modern British democracy is similar to Greek democracy since in both instances, the people have a voice in political decisions. However, in Britain, the people vote for officials to make decisions for them, and everyone has a right to vote, but in Greece, free men (20% of the population) directly made decisions. Greek democracy also relied on slavery so people could have enough time to participate.
There is an argument that the government has the power and right to change laws and represent people without necessarily having to be elected. This can also be known as ‘Democratic deficit’. An example of democratic deficit is the House of Lords. The members in the House of Lords aren’t elected but they get to make laws and represent the people. The members in House of Lords are usually given their seats hereditarily so many people found it unfair that they’re not elected into the Parliament but they can make decisions and laws
The dispersion of power in the UK varies greatly, each country having a different seat on the level-pegging of power over one another - in particular, policy areas, due to the various referendums, including ones already mentioned. This is called an asymmetrical devolution system.
Direct democracy can be defined as a system of democracy in which citizens participate in the majority of legislation; therefore, granting them political self-determination. A representative democracy (also indirect democracy) is a form of democracy founded on the principle of elected officials representing a group of people. A direct democracy has leaders that are chosen specifically by “The People”. There is no Electoral College, or elected officials, to cast the votes of the people, the people cast their own direct votes.
Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, and is one with representative institutions and a rule of law.
Democracy, as it is used today, means “ the people rule.” A democracy is a form of government ruled by the people of the country through elections and representation. A democracy is really a form of republic known as a democratic republic. A republic is a government where officials elected by a small group of people that make the important decisions.
A democracy is a government by the people, in which the power is vested in the people themselves. The people then elect representatives who conduct their power in a free electoral system. The Declaration of Independence, which says that all men are created equal, was written on the premise of a democracy.
The first thing to look at is the various types of democracy used in the UK. There are many examples of the various types of democracies with the first being direct democracy. A recent example of what a direct democracy can do is the Scottish Referendum taking place throughout Scotland. This allows the people of Scotland to take the decision of independence in to their own hands. This is a great example
Democracy is a form of government which dominates the western world. In democracy, every person is given equal input into matters of the state, although this does happen to varying degrees. There exist many different types of democracy. Absolute or direct democracy occurs when each citizen personally participates in all decision-making processes. This system is difficult to maintain due to the vast number of people and the necessity for all people to be informed, logical, and educated when making many decisions. This form of democracy has not existed in significant sized populations. Representative democracy is a type of government in which the people elect government officials to make decisions concerning the state. The two most prevalent types of representative democracy are democratic republics and parliamentary democracies. In a democratic republic, such as the United States or Canada, the people elect both their representatives in government and their head of state. In a parliamentary democracy, such as the United Kingdom or Australia, the people elect their representatives and their representatives elect their head of state.
Direct democracy, also known as pure democracy, is where the people vote to on or form consensus on policy initiatives directly. The word democracy literally means “rule by the people”. The United States today is a representative democracy. Which is a democracy in which the people
As one of Europe’s oldest democratic countries, the United Kingdom consequently has one of the oldest voting systems, a plurality system often called First-Past-The-Post. The system relies on a basic principle; voters can vote for only one candidate and the candidate who receives the most votes wins the seat. (UK Parliament Website, 2014) As the quotation from David Cameron shows, the system is often hailed as one of the simplest voting systems possible, and is mainly used in the U.K for national elections.
In a democracy the citizens have the right to choose who represents them in government by having elections. This is what the government use to let the citizens make a decision on the individual or group that are going to represent them in Parliament, the citizens make their vote by choosing from a variety of potential candidates and they will vote for the candidate that they believe will
Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Democracy allows eligible citizens to participate equally—either directly or through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. It encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination.
What is democracy? Democracy a form of government in which the people freely elect representatives to govern them in a country, democracy guarantees free and fair elections, basic personal and political rights and independent court of law. There are two types of democracy, direct and indirect democracy. Direct democracy or pure democracy is where there is direct participate of the people; people make decisions for them instead of letting them representative make decision for them. Indirect democracy the decisions are made by the representative on behalf of the people that voted for them. All over the world people are having different views with regard to democracy and how it operates. “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of