Do we in the U.K. live in a democracy?

Question

Most people say no?

gruffle- have your say. ALL say what you feel! If you hate Blair say so,If you hate me say so, tell us what you feel.

DEMOCRACY- form of govenrment in which the supreme power is vested in the people collectively, and is administered by them or by officers appointed by them; the common people; a state of society characterized by recognition of equality of rights and privileges for all people; political, social or legal equality:
From the
Chambers Dictionary 2003.

Answer 1

Democracy comes from the two Greek words; demo (people) and kracy (power) and roughly translates into "Power to the People". As we live now, we do have a democratic country as we can vote and say what we feel. We don't have the purest form of democracy, we have a slightly less democratic system called representative democracy. This is the idea that we have candidates who stand to represent the constituency. They gain votes from the constituency and if they win they become MPs. They are then the voice for that constituency. This is the only plausible way to get the opinions of the entire country as asking everyone about every little issue would be very unpractable and expensive. However, in some occasions which have high profiles such as the joint currency of Europe (Euro), the government will have a referendum (so they say) to find out what the public want.
Although the electoral system (plurality or First Past the Post) has its flaws which lead to wasted votes and the unfairness on the smaller parties, the UK does have a good democratic system. This has changed however since devolution in 1999 of Scotland and Wales with issues such as the West Lothian Question.
Also, with the popularity and scale of pressure groups in the UK such as NFU (farming union) and Fathers For Justice, they put pressure on the government and express the views of their section of the country.
In recent years, the democracy of the Uk has been undermined by the fact our civil liberties have been lost to some degree. The countless cameras and CCTV and private property, plus the idea of being politically incorrect have impeded our freedoms of speech and movement.
In general, we do have a great democracy compared with many other countries, but we do seem to be losing our power as people in the UK.

Answer 2

The only true democracy was ancient Athens - it didn't work terribly well. We are led to believe that putting a cross in a box every five years means that we live in a democracy. This is, of course, nonsense. democracy means 'government by the people' If the people ran the country then the death penalty would be reinstated tomorrow. A convenient distinction is made between a parliamentary democracy (like ours - i.e. an elective oligarchy, not a democracy at all) and a plebiscitory democracy (a true government by the 'plebs' - the common folk). It bugs me that we call our system a democracy when it clearly isn't one, but on the other hand, I'm not convinced that democracy is the best system of government anyway.

Answer 3

There really is no such thing as a true democracy, the whole thing would be a shambles.

In a true democracy everyone would vote on everything and the whole show would grind to a halt under the weight of beauracracy.

We have a lot of freedom but there always has to be a level of control.
It's strange, I get unhappy about the lack of control the state has over certain individuals in Britain, but, the utter control some states have over individuals also makes me unhappy.

Wish I knew how to find the balance, maybe some kind of organised micro-anarchy??!!?

Eventually, no matter the system, individuals group together, groups merge, and so on until ultimately they have the power over you.

Answer 4

Whether a country is a democracy is not a Yes or No question. All countries generally thought to be democracies have thier limitations, whilst even totalitarian countries have to have some forms of consultation over limited issues and have to generate sufficient political acquiescence to function.

Compared to many, if not most, countries in the world the United Kingdom is very democratic. Not least, we have General Elections with choices of candidates. However, UK democracy has its limitations. The historic evolution of the role of the sovereign is one of these, not least because of the undemocratic use of the royal prerogative it enables for instance in relation to foreign affairs. The conduct of United Kingdom elections is also beginning to be a matter of concern, for instance concerning the recent use of postal votes and, even worse, plans to enable proxy voting. I am dubious as to whether the UK meets international obligations concerning use of the secret ballot.

Democratic governments have an obligation to treat their citizens equally. The UK appears to discriminate in favour of the Welsh and the Scottish by giving people in Wales and Scotland their own regional government whilst Welsh and Scottish MPs vote in the Westminster parliament on English matters. This is made worse because of financial favouritisn towards the Scots and Welsh, for instance in relation to care of the elderly and university tuition fees.

If you live in the UK, before you start saying the UK is not a democracy be thankful you are not somewhere like Zimbabwe. However, you should be concerned at the erosion of your democratic rights.

Answer 5

ASOLUTELY NOT!

We, the electorate, finance the civil service to treat us technichians worse than doormats.

We finance not only their extremely inflated offices & expences, but also by means of thier equally inflated fat-cat salaries, their extreme dubious private lives.

They have no trade or technical skills, no industrial experience, & yet they dictate on all matters of health, safety & security.

They breach the Human / Civil Rights Act where-ever possible.

They are the heaviest & worst possible scroungers.

When under fire they always resort to the maximum collusion.

The more of our cash they throw at so-called crime, terror, the nhs, & education, the worse the situation spirals out of control.

They should be replaced by Military trades-people & Marshall-Law.

Alternately use chip & pin ID, possibly also biometric, in public referrendum to elect each minister, assistant minister, & deputy. Also to vote on local, national, & interntional issues.

Answer 6

My word, what a load of cynics. I wonder what the collective noun for you would be?

No matter.

Yes, the UK is a democracy. Not only that, it is a democracy with all of the safeguards built in.

Perhaps it is not perfect, but it is a system which allows cynics to voice their ignorance without fear or retribution.

Answer 7

the government would have us believe we do. but just try and use your democratic right to freedom of speech and see how far you get. if you try to speak your mind in this country about topical issues e.g. politics, immigration, religion or crime then in no time you will get arrested for some bullshit charge of inciting racial hatred or any other bullshit charge just to shut you up. democracy my ****.

Answer 8

No - we don't elect our head of state for a start.
That position is always reserved for the members of of one family in the tradition of all corrupt tyrannies.

Answer 9

to a certain extent yes. you still vote for some officials so there for you have a form of democracy within your parlimantary government.

Answer 10

although we are free to state our own opinions i do not think that the u.k. is a democracy as to the fact that we are not citizens of the u.k. we are infact subjects to u.k. and the crown........................but having stated this, i am fortunate to live in this country , for its better than some republics!!!!!!!!