Describe how the present democratic system works in the UK and suggest how it might be improved to m
Uploaded by jak832000 on Feb 11, 2004
Describe how the present democratic system works in the UK and suggest how it might be improved to make it more representative and more relevant to the electorate.
In Britain we have a representative system of democracy that is supposed to ensure that everyone has a say in the government of the country. This essay will explore the British system of democracy and then will consider whether alternative systems of representation are more effective to the electorate.
Representative democracy is present in Britain. This system allows citizens of a constituency to elect representatives - members of parliament (MP’s) to make decisions for them in the House of Commons. The constituents are given the opportunity to either re-elect their present MP or to vote for a new one to represent them in the House of Commons.
By doing this the electorate has passed on the opportunity to directly influence any decisions made in parliament to his/her MP. The MP is representing his/her point of view. MP’s from every constituency in the country meet in London in the houses of parliament within which can be found the house of commons this is where they debate matters and discuss acts to be considered for law. The electorate cannot make decisions, however, the MP allows members of his/her constituency to voice opinions on matters through clinics set up by the MP, known as ‘constituency clinics’.
Direct democracy is quite different to representative democracy in that it requires every citizen who is over the legal voting age and not in prison to vote. Voting like this represents the majority vote. Where as in a representative democratic society the electorate passes this power to their MP. This is not practical in large-scale societies. It requires the electorate to fully involve its self in every meeting on every subject. It is acceptable to believe that the public cannot afford that scale of spare time. This problem could be seen as nothing more than a minor obstacle in the future due to the rapidly continuing technological developments.
Great Britain is a Liberal democracy as well as being a representative democracy it is, among others, derived from representative democracy. Governments who practice liberal democracy in their country allow freedom of speech, thought, assembly and religion. Liberal democracy is based on six main features. These are majority rule, where matters...