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T H E E AG L E - T H E P U P I L S ’ P O L I T I C S M AG A Z I N E
K U e h t n Ca e b y c a r c demo ? y h t l a e h s a n e se er Sixth, Hawkins
Lily Byway - Low
WHAT IS A HEALTHY DEMOCRACY? A healthy democracy can be defined as freedom and equality between people.
TURNOUT Turnout massively contributes to the UK being an unhealthy democracy. Notably, turnout statistics in recent elections highlight that we are experiencing a ‘participation crisis’. In general elections, the averages of turnout are still below the averages of 1945 and 1992. Moreover, turnout in other forms such as general political engagement, is still very low. A representative democracy cannot be considered healthy if increasing numbers of citizens are uninterested or unwilling to engage in political life. This ultimately shows the unhealthy democracy; particularly as the whole ethos behind democracy is a fair system where everyone has their say, hence if people are not voting, not everyone is involved in decision making. However, turnout has massively improved since 2001. In successive elections, especially in 2006, voter turnout rose by 61%, however, those who chose not to involve themselves in decision making, risk jeopardising their future.
T H E E AG L E - T H E P U P I L S ’ P O L I T I C S M AG A Z I N E
PARLIAMENT DOMINATION Furthermore, another reason that contributes to the argument that the UK is an unhealthy democracy is parliament being dominated by a single party. The First Past the Post system enables the winning party to have control over the executive and dominate parliament through its majority control of the House of Commons. Theoretically, the UK has a system of ‘parliamentary democracy’; however, it is arguable that the UK in practice has a system of ‘executive democracy’. This therefore is a considerable argument demonstrating how unhealthy UK democracy is; this reality is bad for democracy because there is too little effective scrutiny and accountability of the government as the winning party has disproportionate and unrepresentative power over government. However, the government was elected on a mandate and thus this reflects a healthy democratic outcome. Moreover, this ‘fusion of powers’ suggests that the governing process is very efficient. Although, parliament is seen to have dominating power, healthy democracy involves efficient decision making which represents people’s views. Furthermore, the fusion of these powers reflects that all branches of the government working together using a healthy democracy as a basis of decision making.
DEVOLUTION Devolution is the transfer or delegation of power to respective principalities. Some suggest that devolution has created an imbalance in British politics with different areas having different degrees of control. They argue that it has created an extra bureaucratic layer, hence enhancing the inequalities between nations within the UK. Parliament uses devolution to determine how funds are split between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This concept suggests that funds should go where they are needed in the UK at a finer level so the boarders should not have any significant relevance. On the contrary, devolution is key as the cultural differences these nations have is necessary for power to be spread differently.
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Furthermore, I believe that devolution has created institutions that can better respond to local needs to add an extra layer of representation for those who live there. It is evident that devolution has its flaws but ultimately is necessary to share power so those in smaller, local areas are represented equally; this equality of power leads to healthy democracy as a key principle in an effective democracy is equality between all people. Therefore, underpinning the unhealthiness of the UK’s democratic system.
REPRESENTATION The system does not necessarily allow everyone to be properly represented. The First Past the Post electorate system means that smaller parties often gain little traction and cannot win enough votes to gain a seat in parliament. This was exemplified in 2015, where the candidate standing for SDLP in Belfast won the seat with only 24.5% of the vote, meaning 75.5% of those who turned out in Belfast were not effectively represented by the person or the party they aligned. Moreover, another argument that not everyone is properly represented is portrayed by the lack of minority groups and women in parliament; under 10% of the House of Commons were non-white and only 24% of parliament were women. This leads to an unhealthy democratic system in the UK, as effective democracy involves equality between all people. Democracy requires that everyone’s voice needs to be heard, and by not representing certain groups of people those who are from these groups struggle to be expressed. However, the First Past the Post electoral system in the UK is hard to change as alternative systems of more proportional representation may result in uneasy coalitions which generate little meaningful policy thereby making representative democracy less effective and efficient. Moreover, the representation of more ethnic minority groups in parliament is massively improving as was evident through Blair’s Babes and Cameron’s A team.
