Representation:
Ideas of 'the People':
Hobbes:
Sovereign power lies entirely with ‘the office of the sovereign representative’ which exists for the ‘procuration of the safety of the people’.
The concept of ‘the people’ is established once order and sovereignty are established.
‘A people is a single entity, with a single will; you can attribute an act to it. None of this can be said of a crowd.’
The cover of Leviathan depicts the sovereign made up of individuals, who are looking up to him.
Abbé Siéyès:
pouvoir constituent: the constitutional function of the people. EG: pre-legal formation
pouvoir constitué: the democratic function of the people. EG: voting, citizenship etc.
The people change from pouvoir constituent to pouvoir constitué once the constitution has established sovereignty. Once this has happened, the people lose their right to revolt.
The nation as a constituent power, but one that cannot govern. A government is needed to provide laws that give individual freedoms and rights.
Reason for Representation:
Ensures all citizens can be heard.
Citizenship is used as a process of exclusion.
Only citizens have voting rights, while non-citizens still have to pay tax.
‘taxation without representation’.
Provides a superior form of governance that effectively manages conflicts.
Provides a source of political power through legitimacy.
Would be impossible to have an entirely direct democracy.
Representation is more efficient.
Problem of Representation:
Representation is not intended to be quantitative (based on the number of votes), but qualitative (based on the fairness of the procedure).
Democracy:
Democracy is the effect of representation.
The effect of representation is to ‘refine and enlarge the public views by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations’. [1]
It follows that experts should be consulted in regard to law-making, not the people directly. It is them who will represent the interests of the nation.
Note: Madison's influence on America and its introduction of the Electoral College.
Definitions / Views:
There is no clear concept of democracy.
Literal:
A combination of the Greek words people and power / rule.
Democracy and republicanism is ‘government of the people, government by the people and for the people’. [2]
Majority Democracy as a Threat:
There was a view that the majority view alone would be a threat to society as it would ignore the views of the minority. This is why parliament’s sovereignty is comprised of the Queen, the Commons and the Lords, which provide a monarchical, democratic and aristocratic aspect respectively. When the one, the many and the few are constituted together, democracy is balanced.
‘Tyranny of the majority’ [3]
Basic vs Sophisticated Understanding / Qualities of Democracy:
Regardless of whether a nation uses a basic or sophisticated understanding of democracy, it is still a democracy.
Basic / ‘Content-free’:
Free and fair elections.
Universal franchise / right to vote.
Political parties.
Free press.
‘Electoral’ democracy.
Sophisticated / ‘Content-rich’:
Protection of fundamental rights.
Rule of law.
Judicial independence.
Separation of powers.
Accountability.
Pluralist public sphere (no one power can have complete control.
Stable institutions.
‘Good’ democracy.
Decline in Democracy:
Many agencies study the decline in democracy around the world, based on substantive features of a democracy.
25 of 41 democracies have suffered overall declines, while 16 improved. [4] The UK was one of the nations that have declined.
Democracy in the UK:
Post WW2, no government has held a majority population vote. However, they only need a majority of seats in Parliament to have power.
Questions are raised as to whether the 'First Past the Post' system is actually democratic as it produces a system that creates a government from the single largest minority of the votes, thereby creating manufactured majorities.
The British constitution ‘knows nothing of the people’. [5]
‘We are the people of England that never have spoken yet’. [6]
The 2 Models of Democracy:
Westminster Model (Power Hoarding):
Parliamentary majority (First Past the Post electorate system).
Party competition (typically 2 parties; government and opposition).
Fusion of the executive and legislative powers.
Individual liberalism.
Bicameralism (2 chambers).
Works on the assumption that absolute power has gradually been transferred from the monarch to Parliament.
Consensus Model (Power Sharing):
Fairly modern (1960s onward).
Majority rule not acceptable (proportional electoral system).
Multi-party system.
Negotiations and compromise essential to build majorities.
Coalition governance.
References:
[1] James Madison, Federalist (no 10, 1787) [2] Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address (Speech in Gettysburg PA, 19 November 1863) [3] John Stewart Mill, On Liberty (1859) [4] Freedom House, Freedom in the World Report (2020) 10 [5] Vernon Bogdanor, Power and the People (1997) [6] Gilbert Keith Chesterton, The Secret People (1908)
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