Democratic Deficit in the UK
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Democratic deficit refers to when a government is falling short of fulfilling the principles of democracy in practice.
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It can be argued that some aspects of the UK's political system are not fully democratic. For example, the existence of an unelected House in Parliament (the House of Lords) can be seen as undemocratic.
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In addition, the use of the
First Past the Post
The UK's main electoral system for general elections. Voters choose one candidate and the candidate with the most votes wins the seat.
electoral system can lead to unrepresentative outcomes, where parties are able to win seats without the vote share to back it up. This can lead to the democratic nature of the UK to be rather questionable.
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When governments have a majority in Parliament, they are often able to act with limited scruity which leads to accountability diminishing.
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In order to reduce the democratic deficit, there must be reforms such as electoral reform, in addition to greater transparency and effective scrutiny. Voter apathy must also be tackled as citizens must be encouraged to participate in the democratic process.
Key Features of the Democratic Deficit
- Unelected elements in government (e.g., House of Lords)
- Voter apathy
- Unrepresentative electoral systems
- Influence of private interests in policy
- Lack of scrutiny
