British Politics: Democracy - What is an election? Distinguish between an election and a referendum What is representation? and more!

Here are some essays I did in my first year of college on democracy in the UK. They are 5 mark questions so the answers are very short and simple. I'll also be posting some longer ones on here too.

Robyn, UK

What is an election?

An election is the means through which an office or post is filled. It involves a designated body of people, known as the electorate, to choose one candidate and cast their vote in the secret ballot. There are four different types of elections. The general election is where all the seats in the House of Commons come up for re-election. The devolved assembly elections are to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly. The European Parliament elections select members of the European Parliament. The local elections are to district, borough and country councils. Elections take place every four or five years.

Distinguish between an election and a referendum

The purpose of an election is to fill offices or posts and to form government. The purpose of a referendum is to make policy decisions. In an election, the electorate vote for a candidate or party whereas in a referendum, people give a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ opinion. Elections are related to general issues as the electorate vote for all of the candidate’s policies. Referendums on the other hand, are related to a specific piece of policy or issue. Elections are legally required as part of a representative democracy and take place quite regularly. Referendums, however, are a device of direct democracy and the government decides when they happen.

What is representation?

Representation is a relationship where an individual or group acts on behalf of a larger body of people. It is part of representational democracy, which is slightly different to democracy because democracy wants to abolish the distinction between the government and the people while representational acknowledges this. Representation is used in the UK today through the party Government system and also through things such as pressure groups.

Explain two functions of elections

An election is a method of filling an office or post through choices made by a designated body of people known as the electorate. Elections take place every four or five years. There are four types of elections: the general election, devolved assembly elections, the European parliament elections and local elections. Two of the main functions of elections are to form government and ensure representation.

In the general elections, elections have the function of forming governments. Elections are the main way in which power is transferred from one government to the next. The governments in the UK are formed from the leading members of the majority party in the House of Commons. The results of general elections are usually very clear so the transfer of power normally happens the day after the election. The leader of the majority party becomes the Prime Minister and they must appoint the other ministers for their government. However, it is argued that elections in the UK aren’t always successful in forming governments because where proportional electoral systems are used, there is less likely to be a single winning party. This means that governments may be formed through deals negotiated by two or more parties. These deals can take many days or weeks to negotiate. An example of this can be seen in the Scottish Parliament as a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition was formed after the 1999 and 2003 elections.

The second main function is ensuring representation. Elections act as a way for communication between government and the people, which means they carry out a representative function. Elections create a link between the elected politicians and their constituents which ensures that the constituency’s concerns are properly articulated and addressed. Elections also create a more general link between the government of that time and public opinion. This happens because elections make politicians and the government of the day are therefore publicly accountable. This gives people final control over the government as they are also ultimately removable. However, because elections are four or five years apart, the link between voters and representatives is weakened, this also includes the fact that there aren’t any recall elections in the UK. Secondly, it is argued how elected politicians should represent their electors and how they actually do it.

Define direct democracy and representative democracy

Direct democracy originates from Athens 500 to 322 BCE and today it is used to supplement representative democracy. In direct democracy, the people ‘make’ policy decisions as they don’t just choose who will rule on their behalf. The most modern form of direct democracy is the use of referendums. The people also ‘are’ the government as there is no separate class of professional politicians and people engage in politics on a regular and ongoing basis.

Representative democracy has quite opposite features to a direct democracy. In a representative democracy, the popular participation is indirect as the public don’t exercise power, instead they choose someone to rule on their behalf and there is limited popular participation as voting takes place every few years.