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Discuss the view that having a strong opposition is vital to a healthy democracy. (30 marks) The opposition is those parties that do not constitute the government; they are seen as an alternative government. They need to be brought up to date on all situations because as this alternative government they need to be able to step up to the plate when the current government seems unfit. But, are they vital for democracy today? They make a healthy democracy because human nature is competition, without it where would we be.
The opposition often has a difficult decision to make because as a government in waiting they have to support the government on a piece of legislation, and in democracy the opposition is considered a necessary part of the legislative framework. I feel they also provide a strong healthy democracy for the UK because although they have the power they have a lot of frustration, they can only play what may seem a peripheral part in it.
The frustration lies in the perception rather than the reality, they can influence legislation they chose whether to help or hinder its passage through parliament. In conclusion I feel that in certain situations the opposition has power and the Uk has a healthy democracy but, I feel that it isn’t fair. Political parties exist merely because humans would not be able to live without simple leadership. But, are they good for democracy, or are they just a way to lead a country.
But, without them we wouldn’t have a democratic society, but with them are they good for democracy. Political parties are good for democracy because they are the source of our countries leaders. They produce people who through leading their party become worthy and talented in leading the country. If we didn’t have political parties then we would live in complete disorder because there would be no leader, no laws nothing. Political parties are good for democracy because they bring order and a system to what would be seen as total chaos.
We have many parties competing for governing party, with this it is good for democracy because we don’t have personality driven politics like the USA for example. It is easy to spin people in the media, but hard to spin parties. Also is there a sensible alternative: individuals couldn’t form a coherent set of politics. Nearly all the parties in our political system have similar or shared interests on policies; this is good for democracy because this way the governing party and opposition parties will all have the shared interests on hopefully the important policies.
Not all MP’s are part of a political party; this makes politics interesting because with this, you have people with different expertise in different fields. For example Dr. Richard Taylor in 2001 and 2005 won the Wyre Forest bi-election which gained him a seat in parliament, as a single stander. On the other hand political parties are also bad for democracy, because although there are a lot of parties, they don’t represent people’s views. This could lead to voter apathy and this doesn’t make democracy.
At present we have two main parties, Labour and Conservative; they share or have similar policies to court the middle ground, which gives the nation insufficient choice. It has been known that if a party gets a large majority, then there is no need to listen to its members, which puts the nation in the dark. Parties seem to be a thing of the past, they have seen a big drop in membership, which could be damaging to them as a lot of funding comes from there.
We have a first past the post system in the UK, this doesn’t help the smaller parties win key seats. The government employ party whips to make sure that each MP ‘tows the party line’ no matter what their view is, they go with what the party wants. This seems undemocratic. In conclusion I feel that without parties the UK would be a complete melt down as we could not survive without natural competition, but I also feel that at present our current system needs to be re-thought over as it seems to complex and to all behind closed doors