Britain and Its Level of Democracy Essay - 608 Words

Britain and Its Level of Democracy Democracy is a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them. We say that Britain is a democracy; every four years we elect politicians to represent our views and opinions. But given that the majority of politicians are white, middle age, middle class men how can we say that they are truly representative of the entire population. Is Britain a true democracy when only 59% of the people vote? The other 40% of the populations voice is not being heard at all. Although all have to right to vote many feel that it is pointless because the parties they want to vote for will never get in power. Their†¦show more content†¦For example in 2001 43% of people voted for labour and yet they had 63% of the seats. Lord Hailsham once referred to this system as an elective dictatorship in that a powerful government can be created with overwhelming Parliamentary power which can usually push through its required legislation - but with only a minority of the country supporting it. When we vote in MPs and the prime minister we do this usually because of their proposed policies. In an ideal world they would be forced to keep them but they often dont. There are many examples of this from labours previous manifestos. In both 1997 and 2001 the labour party said it was not going to raise taxes, but after being voted in they introduced new types of taxes, stealth taxes. Also in both manifestos they have promised to ban fox hunting. Although there has been much discussion on this topic no ban has yet been but in place after 7 years in office. There are people in Britain who have a large amount of power over the population as a whole, being able to make decisions that affect everyone who are not elected into their position. Examples of these are judges, they can make decisions on the law and sentences of prisoners, the House of Lords, who can stall and even block new laws,Show MoreRelatedWays in Which Britain is Democratic Essay882 Words   |  4 PagesWays in Which Britain is Democratic The electorate in the United Kingdom have privileges regarding involvement in their democratic system unlike many other citizens of the World. In 1867 working class men were first given the right to vote, followed by the vote for women in 1918, a consequence of the suffragettes movements. 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