Does the UK suffer from democratic defecit?

Does the UK suffer from Democratic Deficit? First of all it can be said that the UK does suffer from 'Democratic Deficit', due to its unelected institutions, such as the House of Lords. The second chamber has the power to delay the process of passing policies. However some argue that the House of Lords is undemocratic as its members are not elected, therefore they are not representing the views of the public. The house of lords is mainly made up of life peers with expertise in certain areas, Usually normal people with jobs like doctors. Also, the UK's voting system could be considered as 'undemocratic'. This is because people argue that FPTP results in unequal value of votes. reasons for this is the fact that it takes the average Liberal Democrat MP around 115 000 votes to be elected, whereas, the average Labour or Conservative MP is elected with only 35 000 votes as they are the 2 main parties.


Furthermore, another factor that suggests the UK is suffering from 'Democratic deficit' is its falling political participation. Election turnouts have been generally decreasing in recent times, for example in 1979 turnout was 76%, but in 2015 turnout was only 66.1%. This shows the  political parties are not representing everyone and are not gaining supporters meaning people will not vote at all.On the other hand, there is indication that the UK is not in 'Democratic deficit'. One of the reasons being that pressure group membership is rapidly increasing. The RSPB has more membership than all 3 major parties put together and are standing up for what they believe in in ways to get acknowledgement. Another reason is partisan dealignment, this links to voter turnout as people do not vote due to not caring about politics but also being uneducated in the area. It shows that political parties are not representative to the younger generation and the government do not target the younger people with an education on the topics.


There are plans to reform the House of Lords to make it more democratic. In the future there is the possibility that members of the House of Lords will be elected therefore they will be representing the public. In conclusion, it is clear that the UK does suffer from certain aspects of democratic deficit such as unelected institutions, unfair voting system and a declining election turnout. But it shouldn't be forgotten that the UK has also other redeeming democratic features for instance increasing pressure group membership and devolution.