Do we (in the uk) live in a democratic country? is it clasified as democratic because we vote?

Question

lots of people disagreed with the war in iraq, etc. how come we dont get a say on particular issues? wouldnt democratic mean we get a 'voice' on all issues?

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

No we don't

We do not get to choose the head of state or the Prime Minister.

we get to vote once every 4 or 5 years. However, the seating system and the boundaries are set in such a way as to guarentee one of either Labour or Conservative win. This choice is subtley manipulated in the media.

At the last General Election, labour had a built-in 60 seat majority because of the seat-boundries, meaning on an equal casting of the votes, labour would win a 60 seat majority.

In the event Labour did get a few more votes than the Conservatives. However, only 22% of the adult population voted for them. meaning that 78% of the population did not.

That does not seem very democratic to me.

Likewise, we only get a vote on anything in such a way the the people providing the vote will try to rig in their favour.

On devolution, and important issue affecting the whole of the UK, the VAST majority of the UK did not get to vote in the referendum.

The English where excluded. and pundidt wonder why nationalism is rearing its ugly head.

We do NOT live in a democratic country.

Freedom of speech and the right to peacefully demonstrate our grievences against the Government have been massively curtailed. You can be arrested and get a criminal record for reading the names of the war dead at the cenataph in London.

This is becoming less and less of a democracy every month.

Answer 3

Yes we do. You vote for your leadership and the party who carries the electoral school wins the right to govern. Where major issues are floated, it is often the case that a reforendum is called and this allows the electorate to have a say on an individual issues. Issues such as war etc are never subject to reforenda, because the issue of national security is deemed too important to be left to the whim of the general public (what you MUST remember is that even on a good turn out under 50% of eligible voters actually make the effort to vote - so why should we leave important decisions in the hands of a bunch of people who largely can;t be bothered dtermining their own future)....it is also impossible in practice to refer all major issues to a full public vote.

Answer 4

There is more than one form of democracy. In "Direct Democracy," all decisions are made directly by the people themselves. Every issue, every law is voted on by all the adult citizens. Given the numbers of laws that are made for a large country, this would mean that the British people would do nothing but live at the voting station. Direct Democracies can only work in very, very small populations.

The UK is a "Representative Democracy," in which the people themselves do not directly decide issues, but instead, elect representatives in a national assembly (Parliament) to make the decisions for them. Operating in the name of the people who chose them, the members of Parliament make decisions that they think best. Sometimes the decisions made by these representatives are different from those that would have been made by the people themselves; but as Edmund Burke pointed out, a Member of Parliament represents the people but is not bound by their wishes, whims and fancies, because, when the people elect him, they elect all of him, and if the MP thinks his constituents are wrong, he has a moral obligation to vote the way he thinks best.

Answer 5

Officially yes, unofficially no.

If we were democratic, the elected body of the government would be compelled to follow the desires of the population. Although the people of the UK condemned the war in Iraq, the government ignored their decision and went on in anyway.

The war in Iraq was also condemned by the UN, whom the UK is a member. The decision to invade was based on the WMD argument and to date (a LONG time has passed) none have been found.

Bush, Blair and all their advisers should be in jail for abusing the power they have.

However, you can't just simply pull them out now, as once 1 soldier dies for a cause, it must been seen through to the end or (s)he died for nothing. We can't rob the dead of their rightful honour and appreciation. Not ever.

Only one thing stands between our consistant oppression and freedom.... revolution.

Answer 6

The UK is certainly a democracy. You don't get a say on particular issues, but you get to choose which party best represents your political ideals. As to the war in Iraq, your countrymen voted to return to power the party that voted to go to war.
People worry too much about what their politicians are up to. What are your neighbors up to?

Answer 7

The way I see it is that we vote every 4 years and for the next 4 years we are simply a dictatorship until we can choose a new dictator. The system needs changed so that a referendum can be made on major issues, like war.

Answer 8

We have freedom of expression, an excellent human rights record, social housing, free medical treatment and education.

You do have the chance to express your opinion on the war in Iraq...or should I say did have, last may at the General Elections.. But what did the free democratic society do? VOTE THEM BACK IN.

We (not me I don't vote Labour) as a nation, only have ourselves to blame.

Answer 9

No country with a parliament, even an elected parliament, can be truly democratic. As soon as you elect people to speak for you, it is a Republic, and you're pretty much screwed if you don't agree with what your elected officials say/do, especially if you are in a minority. All the free speech in the world doesn't make your vote count.

Answer 10

No you are not in a democratic nation, You are living under some special people who don't work but reap the benefits of being royals breaking the number one rule " all Human Beings are equal" and "government by the people for the people", The democracy you have is just a cover up by the royals to stop the people from revolting as it happened in places like france, and they make all the decisions