Power and Politics

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Power and Politics

• Revision

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Contents Power and Politics

• Why should I care about politics?
• What is a democracy?
• How do we choose the Government?
• What is Parliament and what does it do?
• What do MPs do?
• Are there other ways of participating?

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Why should I care about politics?

• Politics has an enormous affect on our everyday
  lives. What MPs and the Government decide can
  change what youre allowed to do, what youre
  allowed to say, where you are allowed to
  goCaring about politics is actually caring about
  your life and the lives of those around you.

Rubbish collection. Licensing laws. Road
safety. Public transport. Parks. Homelessness.
Pedestrians. Schools. Leisure facilities.
Street lighting. Pollution. Graffiti. The list
goes on
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What is a democracy?

• At its most basic, a democracy is a country in
  which people vote on who the government is going
  to be. In the same way, when people have a vote
  in organisations or meetings, we call this
  democratic.
• However, in a true democracy there is more than
  simply the right to vote. There should also be a
  respect for human rights which includes the
  right to freely express your opinions and
  beliefs, the right to a fair trial and the right
  to fair and frequent elections.

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Choosing the Government General Elections

• The UK is a democracy we choose the Government
  in fair and frequent elections.
• The General Election must be held at least once
  every 5 years. The Prime Minister asks the queen
  if he can dissolve Parliament and one week later
  Parliament is dissolved. At this point, the PM
  sets the date for the General Election a month
  ahead, and campaigning begins. Anyone who wants
  to be an MP must campaign, including those who
  previously sat in Parliament.
• On the day of the General Election, polling
  stations are open from 7am til 10pm. To vote, a
  person must be on the electoral roll. They place
  their vote in a ballot box in secret.
• These votes are then counted and the person in
  each constituency with the most votes, wins a
  place in Parliament.

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Choosing the Government First Past the Post

• The political party that sends the most MPs to
  the House of Commons is the political party that
  becomes the next Government.
• This system is called First Past the Post. In the
  First Past the Post system what is important is
  how many constituencies you win, not how many
  votes you win.

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First Past the Post An Example
Conservatives send 2 MPs to the House of Commons
because they won 2 constituencies. They have won
the most constituencies so they win the whole
General Election and become the Government.
Springfield Constituency
Kingdom of Far Far Away Constituency
Middle Earth Constituency
Who wins the General Election? Click your mouse
to find out.
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But who won the most votes? Click your most to
find out.
In total, Labour gets 38 of the 825 votes cast
in the whole country.
Springfield Constituency
In total, Conservative gets 35 of the 825 votes
cast in the whole country.
Kingdom of Far Far Away Constituency
In total, Lib Dems get 27 of the 825 votes cast
in the whole country.
Middle Earth Constituency
In UK General Elections it is not about who wins
the most votes but who wins the most
constituencies. If it had been about who had won
the most votes, there would be a different
result Labour would be in Government.
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Is First Past the Post Fair?

• The political party that wins the most
  constituencies becomes Government. But this
  might not mean that they won the most votes in
  the whole country.
• Some people think this is very unfair and that we
  should change system we use to choose the
  Government.
• Some people think that the number of MPs that get
  sent to Parliament should be based on the number
  of votes a political party won, not the number of
  constituencies. They call this proportional
  representation.
• So if Labour win 38 of the votes then they
  should get 38 of the places in the House of
  Commons.

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First Past the Post or Proportional
Representation?

• First Past the Post
• An advantage of FPTP is that it usually means
  there is one clear winner overall. This means it
  is easy to form the Government from one political
  party.
• A disadvantage is that a political party can
  become the Government even though they didnt
  really win very many votes.

• Proportional Representation
• An advantage of PR is that people feel like they
  get more of a say by casting their vote.
• A disadvantage is that sometimes the results are
  so close, the Government has to be formed from
  lots of different political parties. This can be
  very unstable because they all have different
  ideas.

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What is Parliament?

• Parliament, also called Westminster Palace, is in
  London. It is our highest authority where laws
  are discussed and decided upon.
• Parliament is made up of
• The House of Commons (including the Government)
• The House of Lords
• The Monarch

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The House of Commons
This is where MPs that have been elected in the
last General Election sit.
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What do MPs do?

• MPs have responsibilities to three main groups

Parliament In Parliament MPs scrutinise bills
going through Parliament before they become law.
MPs can also sit on committees that examine the
wording of new bills so that a report can be
produced for the House of Commons. MPs can also
be Ministers hold a government position and be
in charge of a department.
Political Party MPs are expected to support their
political party by voting in the way the
leadership expects them to. Each party gives its
MPs a timetable of what is happening in the House
of Commons that week and gives them guidance on
how they should vote.
Constituency Constituents can turn to their MP
for help on a number of issues, such as problems
with benefits, immigration or issues with local
hospitals. MPs can tackle these problems by
writing letters on your behalf, making an
appointment to see the minister responsible or
even presenting a petition to the House of
Commons. You can get in touch with your MP in
writing or by attending their surgery. Surgeries
are held in the constituency on a regular basis.
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The Government

• The Government is formed by the political party
  that wins the most constituencies.
• The leader of the winning political party becomes
  Prime Minister.
• The leader chooses approximately 100 MPs from his
  political party to be in the Government. These
  MPs become responsible for particular departments
  they are called Ministers.
• MPs who belong to the winning political party but
  arent chosen to be part of the Government,
  continue their duties in the House of Commons as
  usual.

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The House of Lords
This is where unelected Lords and Peers sit.
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The Monarch

• The reigning monarch (King or Queen) is the final
  part of Parliament. Their job includes
• Opening Parliament with a speech (written by the
  Prime Minister)
• Dissolving Parliament (when asked by the Prime
  Minister)
• Signing laws (that have already been agreed by
  Parliament)
• Meeting regularly with the Prime Minister to
  discuss issues and offer advice

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Are there are other ways of participating?

• Participating in the politics isnt just about
  voting. Pressure groups play an important role in
  politics. Pressure groups try to influence the
  Government and businesses into making certain
  decisions.
• In fact, more and more people are joining
  pressure groups and fewer people are joining
  political parties.
• It is good that people are joining organisations
  that help them express their opinions. But
  pressure groups dont want to run the country so
  it is important that we pay attention to
  political parties too and have our say in who
  runs the country and how.

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Are pressure groups a good thing?

• Advantages
• Pressure groups can conduct valuable research.
• They can stick up for vulnerable people whose
  problems may go unnoticed.
• They are a way of ordinary people voicing their
  opinion and this is an important democratic
  right.
• They can influence decisions for the better. For
  example the Drop the Debt campaign which
  succeeded in wiping out some countries debts in
  2000.

• Disadvantages
• Pressure groups may take direct action that is
  against the law.
• They may gain a lot of power even though it
  represents a minority of people.
• They might not actually change anything. For
  example many people have campaigned against
  council tax increases without effect.