Volume 27, Number 1, September 2017

Activity

Assessing the health of UK democracy

Clare Stansfield

This class activity assesses the health of UK democracy.

  • Split the class into four groups. Allocate one topic per group (see below).Allow students 20 minutes to prepare their arguments, using the starting points below.
  • Students need to be able to argue both for and against the idea of crisis for their topic — this will help them to develop their skills of evaluation and weighing up arguments.
  • Allow each group 5 minutes: 3 minutes to present theirargument plus 2 minutes to take questions.
  • At the end of the activity, construct a conclusion on the board based on the evidence presented. You should use this evidence to consider whether or not there is a democratic deficit in the UK.

Student task (for each topic)

  1. Prepare a case arguing that UK democracy is in crisis.
  2. Prepare a case arguing that UK democracy is not in crisis.
  3. Be ready to take questions from the other groups on your topic.

Topic 1Participation: voter turnout and voting age

Starting point for research

  • How many people have voted in the last three general elections?
  • Does this vary by age/gender/level of education?
  • Now consider local elections or devolved assemblies — what are the trends in these elections?
  • Do you think lowering the voting age to 16 would make any difference?

Useful websites

Voter turnout since 1945:

Voter turnout for the Scottish parliament elections:

Campaign to lower the voting age to 16:

Topic 2 Party membership

Starting point for research

  • How many people are members of the main parties?
  • Does this vary by age/gender/any other factor?
  • Consider whether or not membership has changed over the last 30 years.
  • What about membership of smaller parties? Is this different to membership of the main parties?

Useful websites

Research briefings from parliament:

Article on party membership since 2015:

Article on the decline in party membership before 2015:

Topic 3 Referendums

Starting point for research

  • How many people voted in three recent referendums?
  • Does this vary by age/gender/any other factor?
  • How have referendums changed political decisions in the UK?
  • Do you think direct democracy is effective and/or fair in the UK?

Useful websites

Campaign for more direct democracy in the UK:

Campaign websites for the EU referendum: and

Voter turnout in the EU referendum:

Topic 4 Digital democracy/direct action

Starting point for research

  • Find examples of e-petitions in the UK. How many people signed them?
  • What happens to e-petitions once they are signed?
  • Can you find other examples of social media campaigns that have influenced the government?
  • Find two examples of direct action and two demonstrations in the UK. Do you think they have had any influence on the decisions of government?

Useful websites

Parliament petitions website:

Campaign for fairer funding of schools (an example of a campaign that uses social media and demonstrations):

Article on anti-Trump visit demonstrations:

Clare Stansfield is head of politics at Francis Holland School

This resource is part of Politics Review, a magazine written for A-level students by subject experts. To subscribe to the full magazine go to:

Hodder & Stoughton © 2017