British Politics: Democracy - Assess the limitations of the UK democratic system

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Robyn, UK

Assess the limitations of the UK democratic system

Democracy is defined as ‘rule by the people’ and is based on the two core principles of political participation and political equality. There are two forms of democracy: direct or representative democracy. The UK democratic system is currently a representative democracy which involves indirect popular participation, limited popular participation in government and mediated popular participation. However, recently, the effectiveness of the UK democratic system has come under fire. To look at whether the UK currently has an effective democracy, I will be looking at the limitations and strengths of the UK democratic system.

One of the strengths of the UK democratic system is the free and fair elections. The introduction of the secret ballot ensures that voters could think for themselves and express their own views at election time without being intimidated into voting for a certain party. This is a core feature of democracy and representative democracy, as it is a case of political participation and indirect and limited popular participation. This means that the UK is correctly following the theory of representative democracy which ensures that the representatives chosen were done so in the correct democratic way.

However a limitation of UK democracy is the first past the post system. It has been criticised for distorting electoral preferences and creating a system of plurality rule, in which government could win fewer than half the votes cast. This is a limitation of representative democracy, as elections are supposed to ensure that the representative that the majority of the public want comes into power. With the first past the post system, however, the representative may only need 30-40% of the electorate vote, which means that the representative may not be wanted by a majority of the country.

Another limitation of the UK democratic system, linked to election is the non-elected element of the system. This includes the Monarchy, the House of Lords and Pressure Groups. This is a limitation because they all have varying levels of influence on the government, but were not elected by the public. This means that some of the things these bodies influence the government on may not be wanted by the public, which is who should technically have the most influence in a representative democracy.

As mentioned above, pressure groups can have unwanted influence over the government and parliament, which makes them a limitation to the UK democracy, however, they can aldo be a strength. Pressure groups promote political participation and members of the public being members of pressure groups creates mediated popular participation. It does this by giving a voice to minorities, providing a way for citizens to exert influence between elections and acting as an important vehicle for political participation beyond voting. This is a strength as if people feel they are not well represented by government then they can feel represented by pressure groups instead.

Under representation can also be seen in the House of Commons. The social composition of the House of Commons doesn’t reflect the social composition of the country as there are few women and ethnic minorities. This is a limitation as they cannot fairly represent the country as they will have a lack of understanding in certain areas.

There is another limitation in the House of Commons as the executive has more power than parliament. The government usually has majority control of the house of commons which means that if they want a certain bill passed, it will get the majority vote in the House of Commons. This is a limitation of the UK democratic system as Parliament are supposed to be representing the public but the executive control means that they can’t always do what the public would want. There is a strength in this, however, through the House of Lords. The House of Lords can stop any bill that they feel is unfair or undemocratic which protects the public’s interests. On the other hand, there is also a limitation here as The Parliament Act states that if government really want a bill passed they can ignore parliament and the House of Lords anyway. However this is rarely done as it makes them unpopular.

Another strength in terms of protecting public interest was the creation of the Human Rights Act in 1998. Human rights belong to everyone and are fundamental in that they are inalienable. This is strength of representative democracy as it ensures that the government and parliament can represent, but not exploit, the public.

Referendums are another strength in UK democracy, however they could be considered a limitation of representative democracy as it is a form of direct democracy and conflict with the principles of the parliamentary democracy. Referendums involve the public expressing a view on a particular issue of public policy. It is a strength as it enhances political participation and also, if the public feel that they are not being well represented, a referendum can ensure they get something that they want.

The last strength in the UK democratic system was created in 1998 by devolution. Devolution has enhanced representative democracy in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. It also lessens the power of Westminster and grants more power to the people as they have a better chance of getting the party they want.

I believe that there will always be limitations to the UK democratic system because there are two many outside factors for a representative democracy to completely work in practice. I believe, however, that limitations have decreased as there is starting to be less of a two party system there was the recent creation of devolution and the more common use of referendums. I believe that no one form of democracy can be used successfully, but using different aspects of different forms can enhance democracy on the whole.