Direct democracy means voters decide policy themselves. The 2016 EU referendum is the biggest UK case. So is the 2014 Scottish IndyRef and the 2011 AV vote. Direct democracy is also visible in the Recall of MPs Act 2015, in Westminster e-petitions that trigger a Commons debate at 100,000 signatures, and in citizens' assemblies - randomly selected panels of citizens that deliberate on a policy question and report to Parliament. Climate Assembly UK 2020 (108 citizens, 60 hours, net zero) and the Scottish Citizens' Assembly 2020 are the main UK examples; Ireland's assemblies on abortion and marriage equality were the international model.
Representative democracy is the default UK model. Voters elect MPs and councillors who decide policy and face the voters again at the next election. The Burke trustee model says MPs should use their own judgement; the delegate model says they should follow constituent instruction.
Liberal democracy adds a rights framework on top of representative democracy. Courts can strike down majority decisions that breach those rights - the Miller cases on Brexit are recent examples.
Pluralist democracy means power is widely spread across competing groups: parties, pressure groups, media, courts, devolved bodies. The pluralist case is that this dispersal protects the public. The elitist counter-case is that a small set of decision-makers (party leaders, senior civil servants, business and media chiefs) shapes the real outcomes regardless.
Majoritarian democracy is the Westminster model: whoever wins the most votes wins everything. FPTP delivers strong majorities. The 2024 result - Labour 411 seats on 33.7% of the vote - is the headline current case for and against this model.
UK general election turnout was 71% in 1997, 59% in 2001, 67% in 2019 and 60% in 2024. The 2024 figure is the lowest since 2001 and reopens the participation-crisis case.
The democratic deficit argument is wider than turnout alone. It points to: an unelected House of Lords (over 800 members); party-controlled selection of candidates; safe seats where votes barely matter; opaque lobbying; and unequal influence between organised insiders and unorganised citizens.
Reform proposals on the table include lowering the voting age to 16, compulsory voting, online voting, an elected upper chamber, more citizens' assemblies, proportional representation, recall of MPs, and a written constitution.
Six big franchise widenings shape the suffrage story. 1832 Great Reform Act - removed rotten boroughs; extended the vote to middle-class men. 1867 Second Reform Act - urban working-class men. 1884 Third Reform Act - rural working men. 1918 Representation of the People Act - all men 21+, women 30+ with property. 1928 Equal Franchise Act - all adults 21+. 1969 - voting age lowered to 18. Scotland (2016) and Wales (2021) lowered the age to 16 for devolved elections.
The suffrage history matters because reformers point to it: every major widening was resisted and every one eventually settled. The votes-at-16 case sits in that pattern. The counter-case is that Westminster is different - elections decide governments, not single questions, and the maturity test is sharper.
Beyond votes at 16, two other reform routes are live. Citizens' assemblies - the 2020 Climate Assembly is the standard UK example, 108 citizens deliberated over 60 hours. Compulsory voting - Australia uses it; turnout there sits around 87%. The UK counter is that compulsion does not fix the deeper apathy - it just changes how it shows up.