Why democracy matters
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Today democracy was the topic of discussion at one of our school’s PSHE sessions
First of all we examined what democracy is:
- Government by the people in which power is held by the people
- Free electoral system with universal suffrage
- Rights, e.g. free speech, freedom to organize groups etc.
- In the words of Abraham Lincoln, democracy is a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
- Opposite of totalitarian regimes and military dictatorships
And then how it is a relatively new form of structuring governance:
- A very new form of governance…
- In 1900 no nation could be said to meet the above conditions
- By 1950 about a 1/3 of the world did Last 25 years about 2/3 of the world had joined the club Democracy is now in pole position as the world’s preferred form of governance
We then discussed how participation in mainstream politics has declined in recent years:
- Voting: 84% in 1950 but 59% in 2001
- 60% of 18-25y stayed at home
- Party membership 3 million in 1960s but closer to ½ million today
- 2003 40% believed that they could change things
- 2/3 give money to organisation
- Petitions signed by 40%
- 25% express grievance
- 5% formed a group or joined a protest
Reasons as to why this might be ranged far and wide, with the general consensus being that we did not trust that politicians had the answers to the problems that face citizens at local or global levels.
The end of the discussion also tended towards the idea that unless we as individuals acted, then we were unlikely to see the policy preferences we desired.
The basis of the discussion is drawn from Gerry Stoker’s ‘Why Politics Matters: Making Democracy Work’, the PSA book of the year in 2006, available from Amazon here
A copy of my presentation to accompany the event for the Year 11s is available for teachers on the tutor2u’s Politics VLE, an excellent free service for teachers to share ideas and resources: http://vle.tutor2u.net/
Hope you can join us soon
Mike McCartney
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