Are we really a democracy?

R R

Rascal

El Presidente
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The PM has always been in our democracy the first amongst equals, he is not in effect the leader of the country but the first minister in the cabinet that answers to the head of state

I thought brexit was the correct course of action because i am a democrat, i believe in the democratic process. However, is democracy really served when there are unelected advisor's helping to make policy on our behalf. We have outside interests influencing political direction, from big business to special interest groups, none of of who have democratic mandates. The media has undue influence and whilst i support a free press, i do not support an unduly partisan press that uses its influence to set the political agenda. I did not vote for a media baron to run the country.


As a Communist i believe in democracy, democracy in every facet of life, we should have the ability to decide not only on a national level, but on a level of how my little close of 25 houses decides whats best for us as a community to how the nation is run on our behalf.


Our country has been run by Governments with minority of votes for generations, how can that be right. If a country is run by the 34% who voted for , the 66% who voted differently are disenfranchised.

Has our voting system produced a tyranny of the minority or is it fair that the minority have the greater say and the majority just have to suck it up.


Basically the question is this.

Is our democracy fit for purpose?
 
There will always be a spanner in the works of any political system, it's the human element.

This country is run better than many many other countries and life isn't anywhere near as bad as the pontificating chattering classes make out, utopia isn't achievable and chasing it is a useless folly.
 
Well over half of the people who get to vote on decisions affecting us aren't even voted for in the first place. Someone can lose an election and then immediately be put into the House of Lords. Others are in there because they're mates with whoever happens to be in government at the time. Some are even in there because their great-great grandfather was particularly good at killing foreigners back in the empire days.

And then within the bit that is democratic, there are the people who have undue influence over our politics. Political parties taking donations from foreign nationals and companies who clearly have no interest in the success of the UK. There's no reason anyone who's not a UK national and resident should be allowed to donate to our political parties, and there's no reason why any single person or organisation should be allowed to donate more than a few grand.

And then of course there's the massive disconnect between the number of votes and the amount of power given. Which then disenfranchises massive numbers of people who happen to live in an area where their vote doesn't count because most people they live with disagree with them, even if country-wide their views are pretty common. It also creates a situation where the individual politician is irrelevant, so someone can have a vast expenses scandal, or do a completely useless job, but because they're in a safe seat, their performance isn't reflected in how people vote. Look at Matt Hancock. Even the most ardent Tory would struggle to defend his performance during the pandemic, and yet his share of the vote actually went up in the most recent election. And that's because his constituency was a safe Tory seat long before he took over and people vote for parties, not individuals. Or Jacob Rees-Mogg who was shifted around various constituencies until they found him a safe seat to get elected into (starting in Fife and ending in Somerset - he's from London). Or even Boris himself, whose first constituency was Michael Heseltine's seat that has been Tory since 1910.

There's this impression that the constituency elects the politician, but in reality, politicians are selected by the parties. And sure, to some extent they need to choose someone who will appeal to local voters, but let's be honest, there are so many areas that are never going to vote any other way, so people with connections can easily be placed in a seat they are guaranteed to win. David Cameron, Michael Gove and George Osborne were all given their first taste of being an MP in completely safe Tory seats. Priti Patel lost her first election badly, but was identified as "promising talent" by David Cameron and basically handed a chance to get elected in a constituency that she was guaranteed to win. And the problem is when you're in this situation, there are virtually no consequences for doing a shit job, or even for outright corruption for individual politicians.
 
WNRH said:
Democracy isn’t fit for purpose. It allows ill-informed idiots giving power to ill-informed idiots.

But there’s no better option.
Click to expand...
Especially when education has been dumbed down consistently for 40+ years and the advent of social media giving everybody a voice.

Add in the adage of assuming MPs looking out for their constituents more than their need to line their pockets.

I wonder when the public will finally work out that disaster capitalism is the root of the global malaise and where we will be at when that happens.
 
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