Democracy Test your knowledge Rowena Hammal

How to take the quiz Write your answers down as you go. Find out your total score at the end of the quiz.

Questions: types of democracy From which country does the word ‘democracy’ originate? What term describes the system of democracy in which citizens can vote on all issues? What term describes the system of democracy in which citizens elect individuals to make decisions on their behalves? What term describes the system of democracy in which elected individuals make most of the decisions but citizens are also given the opportunity to influence some decisions directly, for example through referendums? What term describes the system of democracy in which the protection of individual freedoms is particularly emphasised?

Questions: referendums 6. Referendums are increasingly used in the UK to provide a mandate for which kind of change? 7. Which group of voters were allowed to vote for the first time in the 2014 Scottish referendum on independence? 8. Tony Blair’s Labour government held referendums in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, London and North East England. What was the issue at stake? 9. A referendum has only been held across the whole of the UK on two occasions. What were they? 10. Fill in the blank: Low turnout is a problem in referendums as it weakens the __________ provided by the referendum result.

Questions: UK turnout Match the elections to the turnout figures: 31.1% 65.2% 15.1% 35.4% 42.0% 83.9% 11. 1950 UK general election 12. 2010 UK general election 13. 2011 AV referendum 14. 2012 English local elections 15. 2012 police commissioner elections 16. 2014 European Parliament election

Questions: participation Fill in the blanks: 17. 100,000 signatures are required on an _____________ to ensure that it is considered for debate in the House of Commons. 18. 4.1% of the electorate (1.69 million people) were members of a _________ ________ in 1980. By 2010 the figure was 0.8% (397,000). 19. One way to ensure high turnout would be to introduce __________ ________, though this solution is disliked by liberals. 20. Another way to improve turnout might be continued reform of parliamentary institutions, for example by giving more power to _______ governments.

Answers When you are ready, go through the answers on the slides that follow. Add up your score: 1 mark for each correct answer.

Answers: types of democracy Ancient Greece Direct democracy Representative democracy Participatory democracy Liberal democracy

Answers: referendums 6. Constitutional change 7. Scottish 16- and 17-year-olds 8. Devolution (In 1997 Wales chose to have a Welsh Assembly, and Scotland chose to have a Scottish Parliament with tax-varying powers. In 1998 London chose to have an elected mayor and a London Assembly, and Northern Ireland chose to accept the Good Friday Agreement. In 2004 the North East chose not to have a regional assembly.) 9. 1975 – membership of the EEC, and 2011 – electoral system change to AV 10. mandate

Answers: UK turnout 11. 1950 UK general election 12. 2010 UK general election 13. 2011 AV referendum 14. 2012 English local elections 15. 2012 police commissioner elections 16. 2014 European Parliament election 83.9% 65.2% 42.0% 31.1% 15.1% 35.4%

Answers: participation Fill in the blanks: 17. 100,000 signatures are required on an e-petition to ensure that it is considered for debate in the House of Commons. 18. 4.1% of the electorate (1.69 million people) were members of a political party in 1980. By 2010 the figure was 0.8% (397,000). 19. One way to ensure high turnout would be to introduce compulsory voting, though this solution is disliked by liberals. 20. Another way to improve turnout might be continued reform of parliamentary institutions, for example by giving more power to local governments.

Final score Add up your marks to discover your score out of 20, and which country you are: 20-17: Congratulations! A superb effort! You are…Switzerland! This country is widely known for its clocks, alpine scenery and fantastic tennis players, but it is also home to a thriving (and highly unusual) form of direct democracy. To watch a short video about Swiss democracy, click here. 16-13: Not bad at all, but certainly room for improvement. You are…Belgium! A well-established democracy with a proportional representation voting system, Belgium has perpetually high turnout as voting is compulsory. However, its parties often struggle to find common ground. Belgium was without a government for a year and a half from 2010 to 2011 as the parties failed to form a coalition. Click here for more details.

Final score 12-9: Definitely a work in progress. You are…Venezuela. Elections are hotly contested, but governments are too powerful once elected. Censorship and the lack of an independent judiciary mean that this country lacks a layered system of checks and balances to control the executive. Read more here. 8-5: More work needs to be done! You are…China. Home to over a billion people, China is a one-party state which allows its citizens to vote, in theory for a range of political parties or independent candidates, but in practice the ruling Communist Party is overwhelmingly dominant. Ordinary citizens are also limited in who they can elect: they vote for representatives of the local People’s Congress, those representatives then elect representatives to the next level of government, and so on.

Final score 4-0: Bad news. You are…North Korea. Elections in this totalitarian state are purely for show: sadly, democracy is a distant dream for North Koreans. Click here for more details. It’s time to hit the books and master some basics!