How Citizens Bring About Political Change

Aiming it at Parliament

You have already met the ways citizens take part: petitions, lobbying, campaigning, joining a pressure group, volunteering, and the rest. This module does not repeat that list. It asks two further questions, and they are the ones this part of the specification is actually about. First, how do those actions reach Parliament and hold power to account? Signing something is not the same as changing something, and the routes by which citizen action reaches the people who decide are worth knowing in their own right. Second, what has digital technology changed? Petitions used to be paper and took months to gather. A campaign now reaches thousands of people in a day and costs nothing to start. That is a real change and your specification asks you to understand it. But here is the idea to hold on to, because it is what turns a list into an argument. The older ways of taking part assumed that reaching the people in power was the hard part. Digital tools have largely solved that, and changed who can be reached and how fast. What they have not changed is who gets listened to. A question about digital democracy almost always wants both halves of that, and this module keeps returning to it.

Words for voice and scrutiny

Six terms this part of the course needs. Two of them, advocacy and digital democracy, are easy to confuse with things you already know, so read those carefully.

What advocacy actually means

A charity employs someone to attend meetings with a young person in care, help them understand their options and put their views to the council. What is this best described as?

• Advocacy, because they are speaking on behalf of someone who would find it hard to be heard on their own
• Lobbying, because they are dealing with the council
• Campaigning, because they are trying to achieve something
• Volunteering, because charities rely on volunteers

Reaching the people who decide

Taking part is one thing; reaching Parliament is another, and this is the part examiners mean by holding power to account. Several routes exist and they do different jobs. Voting is the broadest, but it happens rarely and settles many issues at once, so it is a blunt instrument for any single concern. Contacting your own MP is the most direct: an MP represents everyone in their constituency, whether or not they voted for them, and can raise a matter in the House, put a question to a minister or write on a constituent's behalf. Petitions show the scale of feeling behind an issue, and where enough support is gathered a petition can lead to a response or to a debate. Select committees examine the work of government in detail and take evidence, including from members of the public and from organisations with expertise. Standing for election yourself, locally or nationally, is the most demanding route and the most direct of all. And joining a political party or an interest group works by aggregation: many voices carrying further than one. Notice the pattern. The routes that are easiest to use reach the furthest but say the least, and the routes that say the most demand the most. That trade-off is worth stating in an answer, because it is the beginning of an evaluation rather than a list.

Match each action to what it does best

Which two are genuine advantages

Select the TWO genuine advantages of digital democracy.

• A campaign can reach very large numbers of people quickly and at almost no cost
• It lowers the barrier to taking part, so people who would not attend a meeting can still contribute
• It guarantees that decision-makers will act on what people say
• Everyone in the country can take part equally, since everyone is online

What the technology changes

The honest balance sheet on digital democracy. An answer that gives only one column has given half an answer, and this specification rewards the second half.

Digital democracy in words

Being required to explain and justify decisions is called _____, and the detailed examination of policy that Parliament carries out is called _____. Speaking on behalf of someone who cannot easily be heard is _____, while putting a case directly to those in power is _____. Online tools that help people take part are known as _____ democracy; they have greatly increased reach and speed, but they do not guarantee that anyone acts.

Overstating what a hashtag did

Four sentences about online campaigning. Select the ONE that claims more than the evidence would support.

• Online petitions can gather support far faster than paper ones, and can lead to a response or a debate.
• Social media allowed the campaign to reach a large audience in a short time and at very little cost.
• Because the campaign trended online, the government was forced to change the law.
• Sharing a post takes little effort, so a large number of shares does not necessarily show deep commitment.

Judging a digital campaign

A question asks: "Digital democracy has transformed how citizens influence government." How far do you agree? Here is how to build an answer that does more than list features. Start by agreeing where agreement is genuinely earned. Online tools have transformed reach, speed and cost. A campaign that would once have needed an office, printing and months of effort can now begin with one person and reach thousands within days. Petitions can gather support at a scale that is hard to ignore, and proceedings that were once effectively private can be watched by anyone. That is a real transformation and an answer that denies it is not credible. Then set out the limits, precisely rather than dismissively. Reaching people is not the same as persuading decision-makers: laws still change through Parliament, and a large number of shares is not a vote. Digital participation is often shallow, because sharing costs almost nothing, so the numbers may overstate the commitment behind them. Access is unequal, so the people least likely to be online may be those with most at stake. And information spreads whether or not it is accurate. Then reach a judgement, and make it specific. For example: digital tools have transformed how citizens are *heard* far more than how much they are *listened to*, so the change is real but is greater at the start of the process than at the end. Notice that the judgement is not "there are arguments on both sides". It says which part changed and which did not, and that is what earns the higher marks.

From a concern to a debate

Put the stages of an issue reaching Parliament into a sensible order.

• A group of people find they share a concern that is not being addressed
• They organise, gathering support online and through a local group
• They contact their MPs and put their case, and take the issue to a petition
• The petition attracts enough support for the matter to receive a response
• A committee or the House considers the issue and questions the relevant minister
• The government responds, and the campaigners judge whether anything has actually changed

Say what it changes and what it does not

Assemble the judgement that carries both halves.

One issue, several routes

A group in your area wants a decision reconsidered. Work through how they might act, and how to judge it.

• They want the issue raised with a government minister. What is the most direct route?
• One person affected finds it very hard to put their own case. What is needed?
• Their online petition gathers a very large number of signatures quickly. What can they conclude?
• They want to know whether their campaign genuinely held power to account. What is the best test?

Explain how citizens hold power to account

Explain how citizens can contribute to parliamentary democracy and hold those in power to account, and evaluate how far digital democracy has changed this.

• Explain what accountability and scrutiny mean
• Describe at least three routes by which citizens can reach Parliament, and what each is best at
• Explain what advocacy is and how it differs from lobbying and campaigning
• Explain the roles that pressure groups, trade unions and charities play in giving people a voice
• Explain what digital democracy is and give two genuine advantages
• Give two limitations of digital democracy, including unequal access
• Reach a judgement that says which part has changed and which part has not