Example UK Politics Essay: discuss the extent to which the UK’s version of representative democracy could be improved

Representative democracy, or indirect democracy, refers to the election of officials/lawmakers to represent the views of the electorate in parliament. In the UK, we elect our MPs, our MEPs, our local councillors, and in some parts of the country a Mayor (e.g. London). Whilst there are clear benefits to having a system of representative democracy in the UK, there are two key problems. Firstly, the UK’s electoral system doesn’t always ensure that everyone is properly represented. Secondly, once in power, there is no guarantee that our elected representatives will actually make policies or legislate in a way that is satisfactory to most of the electorate. Both of these issues will be discussed below.