Resolving democratic deficiencies in British parliament Essay

Resolving democratic deficiencies in British parliament - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that undeniably, many countries have adopted the British parliamentary system of government and modified it over time to suit their needs. British parliament system is a supreme legislative body with crown dependencies and located in Westminster in London. Queen Elizabeth, the British monarch is the sovereign head and the chief of state of the United Kingdom. The parliament has legislative supremacy and hence ultimate power over all political bodies in the UK. In addition, the parliament has two divisions including the upper house or the house of lords and the lower house or the house of the Commons. The House of Commons includes government ministers, elected to the chambers every five years in accordance with the constitution. The Monarch chooses the prime minister who works together with the government through accounting to the parliament and public on the usage of public finances. British parliament suffers from serious democratic defici encies partly because of its organization. In normal circumstances, a parliament as an institution of democracy needs to embrace a government that works towards fulfilling people’s expectations and solving problems they encounter in their daily lives. In this regard, it is important that the people they represent from diverse communities elect members of the parliament. Failure to this causes bias since parliamentary members will act in favor of a small group with personal interests.... What is Democracy? In 2005, UN World Summit declared democracy as a universal value, which does not belong to any region or country. In fact, it is based on freely expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social, and cultural systems (UN, 2005, p.31). Different democracies share different features in that the government puts people’s interests as a first priority but there is no single model of democracy. Every parliament should be a democratic institution because it is an elected body. Therefore, parliamentarians should endeavor to represents the society and its interests as much as possible. Democracy calls parliamentarians to reconcile conflicting interests of different groups in the diverse communities they represent through dialogue and compromise. In addition, they have the task of adapting society laws to changing needs and circumstances, accounting their actions in full to the public (Beetham, 2006, p. 2). Democracy also entails an inclusion of women, disabled and other minority groups interests that the parliament represents. The fact that only a certain percentage of the British Parliament members are elected in office by the public lessens democracy. Ways of Solving Democratic problems in the UK Change the Electoral Process Elections are held every five years after parliament is dissolved through Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Elections vote in 650 members of the House of Commons who oversee the actions of the government. â€Å"First past the post† used to vote in the House of Common members denies citizens the basic democratic rights of votes of equal value. In this system, votes do not carry the same value (â€Å"UK Parliament,† N.d,