Power, Democracy and Dictatorship

Somebody has to decide

Put any group of people together and questions appear that cannot be left open. Who pays for the roads? What counts as a crime? Who gets treated first? So every society has **rules**, and somebody has to make them, apply them and enforce them. The whole of this subject follows from three questions about those people: **who has the power**, **where do they get the right to use it**, and **what happens to them if they use it badly**.

Power, authority, accountability

These get used as if they mean the same thing. They do not, and the difference is examinable.

Power or authority?

An armed group takes over a town and gives orders that people obey out of fear. What do they have?

• Power but not authority, because obedience is being forced rather than accepted as legitimate
• Both, because the orders are being obeyed
• Authority but not power
• Neither, because they were not elected

Two ways of running a country

The specification names four features of each. They line up against each other point for point.

What makes a system democratic

Select the TWO features that a democracy must have.

• Elections that are genuinely competitive, so the government can actually be removed
• Rights that are protected even for people who voted against the government
• A single strong party, so decisions can be taken quickly
• A press run by the state, so that reporting is consistent

Spot the dictatorship

This describes an invented country. Tap the TWO details that are features of a dictatorship.

• In Marovia,
• only one party is permitted to stand for office
• , and the courts hear cases in public.
• Journalists who criticise the leader are arrested
• , though the road network is well maintained and
• schooling is free to the age of eighteen
• .

Splitting the job up

Concentrating every power in one pair of hands is what makes abuse easy. So a democracy divides the work: the **legislature** makes the law, the **executive** carries it out, and the **judiciary** decides what it means and applies it to cases. The clearest example in the UK is the independence of the courts: a judge can rule that the government has acted unlawfully, and the government cannot dismiss that judge for it. Note that the UK does not separate all three completely, because ministers also sit in Parliament.

Match each feature to the danger it guards against

Define accountability

Build a definition of accountability that would earn the mark.

What a full answer adds

**"Explain why accountability is important in a democracy. (6 marks)"** "Accountability means those in power have to answer publicly for their decisions, and can be removed if they govern badly. It matters because power without consequences invites abuse: a minister who knows they will never be questioned has no reason to weigh the public interest. It also gives voters the information they need, since a government forced to explain itself in Parliament and to the press is a government whose record can actually be judged at the next election." The move that earns the marks is the second sentence: not what accountability IS, but what would go wrong without it.

The concepts in one paragraph

The ability to make people do something is _____. The recognised right to use it is _____. A system where the government can be removed at a genuine election, where rights are protected and where the press is free to criticise is a _____. A system ruled by one person or party, without real elections and relying on _____, is a _____.

Is Verenza a democracy?

Verenza holds elections every four years. Work through what you are told and reach a judgement.

• Every adult in Verenza may vote, but only candidates approved by the ruling party appear on the ballot. What does that tell you about the elections?
• Verenza's newspapers may report on flooding, hospital waiting times and sport, but not on the leader's family. What is missing?
• What is the strongest way to state your conclusion?

Why the press counts

Why is a free press treated as a feature of democracy rather than just a convenience?

• Because voters can only hold a government to account for things they know about, and the press is how most of it becomes known
• Because newspapers keep the public entertained and interested in politics
• Because the news industry employs a large number of people
• Because it lets the government explain its decisions to the public

How a minister is held to account

A minister has misused public money. Put the stages in the order that actually forces an answer.

• A newspaper investigates and publishes what it has found
• Opposition members raise it and question the minister in the chamber
• A committee calls the minister and officials to give evidence
• The minister resigns or is dismissed once the findings are public
• At the next election, voters judge the government on how it handled it

Your turn: what makes it a democracy?

A country holds an election every five years. Explain why that on its own does not make it a democracy, and what else would have to be true.

• Explain the difference between power and authority
• Say what "free and fair" adds to the word "election"
• Name two other features a democracy needs, and what each one prevents
• Explain why accountability is what ties them together