How Democratic is UK Politics
Introduction
Democracy is the rule of the people, by the people, for the people. This consequently means that those who are in power which is the government should be able to serve the people, through the elected leaders who are referred to as by the people, to the members of the public. The United Kingdom is a unitary government with delegation that is governed within the structure of a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy. In the monarch, Queen Elizabeth II is the current head of state whereas the Prime minister is the head of government.
The UK political system is diverse in the sense that there are a lot of political parties and branches of the government, however, the country is democratic even though it has a monarchy. The monarchy is not the head of the government, and the Queen does not have the authority to make decisions on how the government should run. Only the prime minister who is also the head of the government has the authority to make decisions on how the government should run. This was not however the case, in the 19th century, the monarch had total authority over the government, and was relied upon to make most decisions concerning the way the government should run (Driver, 2011).
On the other hand, laws in the UK are made by the legislature, which has the authority to make new, amend laws, and to also remove laws which may be old. The legislature which is also the parliament is composed of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The two houses are tasked with the mandate of making laws (Moran, 2017). On the other hand, the executive has the power to implement as well as enforce laws. This arm of the government works on behalf of the Queen even though it is controlled by the British government. Finally, the Judiciary has the power to prosecute law breakers as an independent branch of parliament. The highest court in the country is the Supreme Court which falls under the courts of appeal.
UK’s democratic political system allows the citizens to elect the leaders of their choice. There are also multiple political parties, where members of parliament are registered in either of the political parties. The citizens get a chance to elect the members of parliament, and the party that gets most seats has the authority to form a government (Driver, 2011). For instance, if the Conservative Party wins majority seats in the parliament, then the party forms a Conservative government. The citizens are consequently allowed to perform their democratic right of electing political leaders. If a party wins majority seats in parliament, it means the citizens prefer that party to form the government, hence the party is allowed to form the government.
In addition, any registered citizen above the age of 18 years it may either be a commonwealth member or a British citizen is eligible to vote in the country (The UK's Changing Democracy, 2018). People with disabilities are not excluded from voting, hence they are allowed to perform their democratic right guaranteed they are registered as voters. On the other hand, in the event that a winning party does not have overall majority, the parliament is referred to as a hung parliament, whereby the party is allowed to form a coalition with a smaller party which enables the ruling party to have a majority in parliament.
The office of the Prime Minister in the UK is not recognised by any bill of constitutional document, however it subsists only by long-established convention. The ruling party which basically forms the government elects the prime minister. As the commander of the parliament, the prime minister automatically becomes the head of government (Moran, 2017). The UK prime minister therefore has not have the authority to sign bills into laws. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister is not above the law, and is consequently answerable to the House of Commons in the event that he makes a mistake which may negatively affect the country. Similarly, the members of parliament also account for the mistakes they make, since the constitution of the UK does not accord them the power of not being arrested.
Conclusion
In as much as the UK political system seems democratic, one would question why the citizens are not allowed to elect a leader they prefer as the Prime Minister. Unlike in other countries where the members of the public are allowed to democratically elect their own president or prime minister, this authority is accorded to the parliament whereby members of the ruling party elect the prime minister. The selected Prime Minister may not be the preferred choice according to the citizens, however, the government which they elected chooses the preferred candidate for the job. The only power vested upon the citizens is the power to elect members of parliament who make up the government.
Reference
Driver, S. (2011). Understanding British party politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.
The UK's Changing Democracy. (2018). London: LSE Press.
Moran, M. (2017). Politics and governance in the UK.
