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Essay Title (Paper C): Is Democracy in the UK improving?
This paper will discuss the theoretical viewpoints of pluralists and deliberative democracy. These theories have similar views because they both believe that democracy is happening due to improvements of technology thus people are becoming more active in their opinions. They also suggest that this is how a democratic society should be. Therefore, this paper will demonstrate what form of democracy is best and that we do live in a somewhat democratic society.
Pluralism ideologies began to flourish in the 1980s-1990s and have “a more positive reading of the mass media as an embodiment of intellectual freedom” (Jewkes, 2015, p.27), alongside the technological advancements that have occurred
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In interpretation, this means that democracy best works when there are no high elites making decisions for those who are below them in important matters (the governments versus the proletariats) and believe that citizens are viewed as individuals with their own opinions on matters that affect them. Correspondingly, achieving democracy which is perhaps the best ‘model of democracy’ to stand by. Smaller organisations such as trade unions and pressure groups (discussed in paper B), denote how this form of democracy is taking place, with individuals coming together to express their suggestions on important matters, such as policy changes and …show more content…
Furthermore, there may still be one voice that wants to be valued over others, which will revert to how democracy was in the beginning- in having one voice speaking for all. Also, if there were not to be one main government organisation this may bring about anomie, and citizens will not know who to follow and rules and regulations will not be obtained, therefore, it is hard to avoid any “involvement with politics” (Held, 2006, p.259), this would result in a ‘failed’ society. Therefore, we should not rush into curbing the power of the executive (even though some countries governments are corrupt), they are there to help us and maintain order of
This argument is supported by the illegitimacy of the house of Lords, the low turnout and participation in UK politics, and the failings of the first-past-the-post voting system. However, it is more likely that there is not a deficit of democracy in the UK, due to free speech and media, freedom of choice in elections and referendums, and elements of devolution. Firstly, the illegitimacy of the House of Lords can be used to argue that the UK suffers from a democracy deficit. The Lords has many problems, and can be seen as an outdated, dysfunctional body that has no place in a
Janda, Kenneth. Berry, Jeffrey. Goldman, Jerry (2008). The Challenge of Democracy (9th ed.). Boston; New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Janda, K., Berry, J., Golman, J., & Hula, K. (2009). The Challenge of Democracy: American
There are a number of various ways that can be used in order to address the ever-growing problem of democratic deficit in the UK, which is based around factors such as the low participation rates and general apathy towards politics in the wider public.
Media finds its central role in the democratic debate in providing information, analysis, and a diversity of perspectives to the public. In recent years, with what is known as a media revolution, the amount of telecommunication outlets has increased dramatically. Often called “a product of healthy market competition,” the media revolution has theoretically expanded the public’s access to a multitude of facts, opinions, and general information (Miroff, et al. 2015). However, with a
Lastly Mills highlights how a truly democratic state can be achieved. There is a need for a public that acts a medium for true political change, skilled men who form the higher powers of the state and have no vested corporate interests, dependable parties that debate openly and lucidly the problems faced by the world and finally liberated institutions between the public and the elite that act as proponent for the public opinion.
William Smith, Democracy, Deliberation and Disobedience (Paper presented at the UK Association for Legal and Social Philosophy Annual Conference, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, April 2003).
The United States is run by a democracy. There are many pieces to democracy that must be in good health in order for democracy to be effective and work. In this essay I will critique some of the most important parts of democracy in America and go deeper. I will first focus on the strengths of United States democracy and then I will dive into categories of democracy that I believe to not be thriving. I believe that the current conditions of United States democracy are becoming a hindrance to this nation, because the opinions and freedoms the public possess are being stripped away through poor media, education, and economy.
Howard, P. N., & Hussain, M. M. (2011). The role of digital media. Journal of Democracy, 22(3), 35-
... small media reforms (like public journalism) will be enough to reduce the commercial and corporate imperatives driving our existing media systems (Hackett and Zhao, 1998, p. 235). Instead, a fundamental reform of the entire system is needed, together with a wider institutional reform of the very structures the media systems work within, our democracies. This will be a difficult task, due to powerful vested interests benefiting from the status quo, including media, political and economic elites. Reforms will need to be driven by campaigns mobilising public support across the political spectrum, to enable the citizens of the world to have a media system that works to strengthen democratic principles as opposed to undermining them. This task is challenging, but it will become easier once people begin to understand the media’s role in policymaking within our democracies.
Democracy: a government by the people, in which citizens rule either directly or through elected representatives - the latter description more relevant to today’s societies. Quite evidently, democracy is not perfect; like any other political system, it is subject to a plethora of flaws. For instance, it is no secret that voters tend to make illogical decisions – not out of sheer malice, but as a result of being wrongly informed. Politicians also make erroneous choices, whether they do so because they are dishonest or simply out of touch with the true will of their constituents. Further, anyone who has studied the government of a parliamentary democracy knows gerrymandering can have a powerful say in determining elections. Despite these and other flaws however, democracy still seems to work.
A key feature of the unwritten constitution is ‘the Separation of Powers’. This exercises the idea of independence within ‘different functions of government’; it is represented by the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Separating the three prevents a dangerous occurrence where power is entirely centralized in one group. Cooperating with one...
Democracy can be defined as a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system. Arguably in this respect, the Great Reform Act of 1832 did not move Britain towards democracy, as the electoral system was not made free, nor was the power fully vested in the people. The Great Reform Act did however instigate an introduction of other crucial reforms which gradually made Britain a more democratic country, such as the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which introduced women into the electorate for the first time in British history. Therefore, it is justified to argue that the Great Reform Act was indeed the key turning point as although it didn’t expand the franchise as much as some of the other Acts did, it provided the foundation on which a more democratic and representative government was established.
With power widely and evenly dispersed in society, rather than concentrated in the hands of the elite, pluralism complements democracy and ensures that those in charge respect the concerns and interests of the individual. In conclusion, it can be seen that pluralism and toleration are widely supported by liberals since they promote individual sovereignty whilst benefiting society at the same time.
Althusser (1971) explains that, as an ideological state apparatus, media doesn’t use pressure as a way to bind society together under one dominant ideology, but instead uses the will of the people to make them accept the dominant ideology. However, media is also used as a way for people to challenge the dominant ideology. Newspapers, for example, will have articles that openly criticise and oppose the dominant ideology for what it is, whilst at the same time providing perspectives and opinions on different ideologies (such as feminism) that society can believe in. Although these alternate ideological perspectives exist, they are usually overlooked and only ever reach small audiences. Ideology can also help us understand the media because of the way in which it distributes ideology.