Citizenship
Apathy
Lack of interest in or feeling for matters of importance.
Bureaucracy
The complicated system of departments and offices run by unelected officials,
through which governments carry out their business. In this system it is often
very hard to see where decisions are being made. This applies also to other institutions
of authority – such as the police, the army and the law courts.
Campaign
To take a series of actions aimed at achieving a specific goal. Political campaigns are usually organised by pressure groups – groups of individuals who have come together usually seeking to change a law, or challenge what they see as an injustice.
Citizen
Someone who lives in a territory under the protection of the laws of a government that they have an opportunity to elect.
Collective
A group of people organised around an issue or a set of issues, which they confront together, in such a way that they all take equal responsibility for decision-making.
Consensus
A group decision that has been arrived at not by a vote but by those present agreeing that it is acceptable. Using this approach, if a minority of people disagree, they might feel under pressure from the majority to agree in a consensus approach.
Conservative Party
British political party sometimes known as the Tories, to the centre
right of the political spectrum. Established in the early 19th century, it is
currently the main party in opposition to the government, since losing the three
elections in 1997, 2001 and 2005.
Democracy
A system in which decisions are voted on by people directly or by representatives whom they freely elect. Democracy generally means majority rule but if, for example, in an election there is a three way split in votes, the largest group may claim the right to govern even if they represent a minority of all votes cast. In a democratic system, though, the people would have the opportunity to vote them out at the next election.
Dictatorship
A system where absolute political power and control is held and exercised by an individual or small group, and they do not seek wider consultation or support for their policies, but impose them on others. Dictatorship often goes hand-in-hand with acts of oppression by the authorities who are employed by the dictatorship.
Elections
The process by which people choose representatives who will make up the government and exercise political power. Elections are also held for local representatives in councils and in many voluntary bodies such as trade unions. General elections to parliament in the UK take place at least every five years. Local government elections are held every four years.
Fascist
A supporter or proponent of a system of government with strong centralised power – usually a dictatorship – which uses violence and oppression towards opponents and often promotes a policy of belligerence towards minorities within their society and towards other nations outside.
Government
The organisation that has the power to make laws that affect all citizens of a specific territory. In Britain the seat of government is the House of Commons but it can also mean the narrower group within the House of Commons that drafts and presents the laws – the Cabinet (group of ministers) headed by the Prime Minister of the largest political party.
Labour Party
Centre-left or social democratic political party established by the
trade unions in 1900. It has one the last three general elections, in 1997, 2001
and 2005.
Legislation
The process of making laws.
MP
Member of Parliament elected to represent a particular region or constituency.
Media
All the forms of mass communication, mostly privately owned, that convey news information to the public – such as newspapers, radio and television. It can refer more widely to other forms of technology used to convey information, such as film, video and the internet.
Monopoly
A business, commodity or service that is owned or controlled by a single
individual or a small group of people.
Parliament
The body that represents everyone within a particular territory, which has responsibility for making all the laws of that territory. It includes MPs of several political parties. In the UK, the parliament is made up of the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Petition
A request to an authority, usually the local council or the government, signed by many individuals. Petitions usually call for something to happen or to be stopped from happening.
Politician
An individual who stands for election to a public position – for example a councillor or an MP.
Politics
The process of gaining or maintaining support from a wider public for a policy or action. This can be within organisations as well as referring to governments and voters.
Radical
Opinions and actions that challenge and promote very substantial change from the mainstream. Radical policies advocate very significant change from whatever has gone before.
Rights
Those things that citizens are entitled to do and to have, simply by virtue of being human and living in a particular place under a particular government.
Secret ballot
A method of choosing representatives by voting, in which your vote is made confidentially and free from intimidation or bribery.
Spin
A way of presenting a policy or an approach that greatly emphasises its benefits and minimises or ignores any deficiencies. Government advisers are often referred to now as 'spin doctors', who deceive and manipulate the public into accepting policies that might reasonably be open to question and challenge.
Transparency
Openness in the way institutions such as governments and councils work, so that you can see and understand how and where decisions are made.
Vote
A method of decision-making which usually follows a debate and is used as a way of concluding the discussion and taking a decision. It is also a method of choosing from competing representatives such as in a General Election where, in Britain, you are entitled to vote for one of three or more candidates.
