Politics: UK democracy and participation
Features of democracy
1)univeral suffrage
2)representation
3)frequent and fair elections
Chartists
embodied democratic ideas - univeral male suffrage, main tactic = compilation/submission to parlaiment of 3 monster petitions 1839, 1842 and 1849 which contained up to 6 million signatures....
second reform act 1867
mainly enfranchised wc men in the cities......
suffragists/sufragettes
suffragists - aims to secure votes for women & their constitutional methods.....
suffragettes - similar aims but attracted more publicity.....
Participation crisis - Yes
1)low turnouts - general decline since the 1950s.....
2)two party dominance....
3)party membership -falls for cons since 1950s....
Participation crisis - No
1) recent forms of participation e.g. pressure groups and direct action - ER
and e-petitions started in 2006 and re-lauched in 2011...
Factors that affect turnout
1)political engagement (interest and participation in politics) - however, voters may abstain if they feel alienated or disillusioned w politics and politicians......
2)age difference in turnout - older the voter more likely to vote....
3)marginality of seats, such as east dunbartonshire.....
suffrage as a human right
UN Universal declaration of human rights issued in 1948 proclaimed in article 21 that 'everyone has the right to take part in the government of the country' - adopted by the ECHR
- Main issue - 16 & 17 vote - in scotland they have trhe vote and saw around 75% of 16 & 17 year olds voting in 2014 ref - higher turnout than 18-24...
- Prisoner rights - John Hirts (convicted prisoner) began legal campaign supported by several penal reform pgs including prison reform trust.....
suffrage as gender
women traditionally seen as the weaker sex, considered to lack intelligence to be trusted with the vote
suffrage as class
- weathy who held franchise before 1832 worried their power reduced if people from other classes had the vote
- fears that wc men too poorly educated to understand political issues, but wc sacrifices during ww2 = denying them the vote could no longer be justified
suffrage as age
young people seen as having unsufficient political knowledge - 18 - 20 year olds received vote in 1969