By Janet Mather

This booklet seems to be at evolving traits in democracy at european and united kingdom degrees, mentioning the first shortcomings of either. It examines the connection among democratic practices of the european and the united kingdom, explaining the ambiguity of how during which the ecu, regardless of the bad caliber of its personal democracy, has enabled devolved choice making in a singular multi-layer polity. The e-book additionally considers destiny customers for converged Western eu democracy in mild of the Labour government's popularizing agenda.

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The European Union and British Democracy: Towards Convergence

This e-book seems at evolving developments in democracy at ecu and united kingdom degrees, mentioning the first shortcomings of either. It examines the connection among democratic practices of the european and the united kingdom, explaining the ambiguity of how within which the ecu, regardless of the bad caliber of its personal democracy, has enabled devolved choice making in a unique multi-layer polity.

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Characteristics of the democratic citizen Values/ Qualities Behaviour •Lover of equality •Citizen first, private individual second •Lover of liberty •Self determining •Self aware •Dynamic •Believer in popular sovereignty •Puts public interests before personal interests, or sees no cor between them •Guards democratic rights Why democracy? • 19 The emergence of the modern democratic personality No such citizens exist. Participation is usually carried out at arms' length. The general view of the job of representatives is that it is not their business to exhort their constituents towards the common good, but rather to satisfy their demands.

A society cannot achieve equality for its citizens, for example, simply by "leaving people alone", which is what a liberal democracy does best [Barber 1991 p 91]. Elected representatives need to promote their constituents' interests. There are difficulties. A given electorate would need to have clearly defined priorities in the first place; it would require Why democracy? 17 sufficient numbers of sufficiently varied representatives to represent them; and these representatives would have to be bound by their electoral mandate.

2: Relationships among philosophical, political and economic theories and practices from the seventeenth century onwards Utilitarianism Liberalism Individualism Whig Radicalism Economic liberalism Industrialisation Capitalism Key: Egalitarianism Democracy Socialism Direct link Indirect link 16 The EU and British democracy: towards convergence • Conflicts in instrumentalist outcomes With this varied ancestry, it is not surprising that political theorists as well as practising politicians have different ideas about the benefits to be gained from democracy.

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