Democracy - Am I living in a democracy? Use this simple test:
If the answer is yes to all three then the society you live in is democratic.
Voting Right - In most modern democracies all adult citizens have the right to vote in elections when they reach a certain age (18 in the UK).
Secret Ballot - If you go to vote you will see a secret ballot in action: People mark their vote on a ballot paper and then put them in a sealed box so no-one else knows how they voted.
Electoral Register - Just like a register at school, the Electoral Register is a list of the names of all the people who can vote. They get on it by filling out a form.
Parliamentary Constituency - A constituency is a geographical area which is represented by a Member of Parliament who gets voted in by the people who live there. This country is divided up into 650 constituencies.
Member of Parliament (MP) - When you vote in a General Election you will be deciding (electing) on a Member of Parliament to represent your constituency. It would be like everyone in your year at school voting for a representative from your year who goes to meetings with one person from all of the other year groups to make decisions about the school.
Prime Minister - The Prime Minister is a Member of Parliament who is also the leader of the winning Political Party. He or she lives at 10 Downing Street. Our Prime Minister at the moment is Tony Blair.
House of Commons - This is where Members of Parliament work in order to make decisions about the running of the country. They discuss different issues (Bills) and try to decide which ones to make law. After they have discussed it the Bill is passed to the House of Lords.
House of Lords - This is the other part of Parliament. Members of the House of Lords are not voted in, but suggest changes to Bills coming from the House of Commons.
Parliament - Parliament is made up of the House of Lords and House of Commons. They are based in the Houses of Parliament in Westminster (London)(the building with Big Ben).
Political Party - This is a group of individuals with shared ideas about the running of the country which aims to form the Government. The Labour party runs the country at the moment (The Government) and the Conservatives are the main Opposition. Other Political Parties include the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party.
Party Manifesto - This is like a book of the ideas and beliefs of a Political Party. It contains pictures of the Party members and is like an advertisement for the party at the time of election. "Vote for us and this is what we will do for the country if elected".
The Opposition - The opposition is the Political Party who has the second most Members of Parliament. They put across different ideas when the Government brings forward proposals to laws or change existing laws. The opposition at the moment is the Conservative Party.
Referendum - A referendum is a vote about one issue rather than a person. An example of a referendum would be if you were asked to vote whether or not you wanted a school uniform.
General Election - A general election is when citizens vote for Members of Parliament to represent their Parliamentary Constituency. The Political Party with the most Members of Parliament forms the Government.
Cabinet - The Cabinet is a group of members of the Government called Ministers. They are given special areas or topics to concentrate on to run the country like education and health. If you want to compare it to schools, think about your teachers..... they teach just one subject (English, Maths, French) rather than trying to teach everything.
Government - The Government is formed by the Political Party with the most Members of Parliament. They run the country and are the winners of the General Election.
Monarchy - In the U.K the Monarchy is represented by the Queen. The Queen does not participate in the decision making process although she is required to sign Acts of Parliament before they become law. The Queen is head of the Church of England. The Monarchy used to run the country but now we live in a democracy and can vote for who we want to be in charge (govern). Members of the monarchy cannot vote in elections.
Public Opinion - This is very important to political parties. They base their Party Manifesto on public opinion. Public opinion is what most people think. Public opinion is clearly very important to politicians and they will try to respond to the majority view. For example most people think stealing is bad so laws have been passed to punish theft.
Councillor - A councillor is something like a Member of Parliament but works in the county, district, or town where they live. Councillors deal with local issues like parks, buses, roads etc.
Electoral Ward - An electoral ward is like a smaller version of a Parliamentary Constituency which is represented by a Councillor who is voted in to serve on the local council.
Member of European Parliament (M.E.P.) - Like Members of Parliament, but representing a country, Members of European Parliament meet in Brussels and Strasbourg and try to make sure that all of the countries in the EU (European Union) can work together.
Local Government - a part of government dealing with local matters concerning the residents of a particular area or town. Local government undertakes its work through local councils and is financed by a mix of local taxes e.g. council tax and grants from central government.
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