4 ms·

Although it's nothing like China, by what means can the average citizen in the UK, for example, raise an issue if their representative is of another party? Exam

Although it's nothing like China, by what means can the average citizen in the UK, for example, raise an issue if their representative is of another party? Example: I care about issue x, but the people I live around don't. So I create a petition on the parliament petition website. Just like every other petition to date (to my knowledge) no change comes about because of it. How can I, as an individual citizen, disagree? Some philosophers of democracy argue that voting isn't worth the cost of actually voting, since your vote is unlikely to make a change in the first place.

CalRobert 7y ago
You can run for office. Of course, you need to convince enough other people to agree with you.
pimmen 7y ago
Lots of things beside petitions. You can run for office. If you find no parties that share any of your values, form one. You can raise the issue in the media which would pressure the government. You would probably not get kidnapped while on vacation in Thailand, and then get locked up without a trial and a forced confession through torture, just for criticizing the UK government. If it's something that affects an entire class of people, such as a certain profession, you could organize something like a labor strike or a protest. And if all else fails, you could actually just break an existing law you think is unfair. You would get an actual trial administered by an independent justice system where you get to defend your actions, you can then argue that the law is unfair and restricted your life in a cruel way. Sadly, it had to come to measures like this for LGBT rights to improve in the UK. You also mentioned "but the people I live around don't". In China it wouldn't matter if everyone around you care about the issue, something will only happen if the CCP deems it necessary.

4 ms·

Although it's nothing like China, by what means can the average citizen in the UK, for example, raise an issue if their representative is of another party? Exam

by claudiawerner 7y ago

CalRobert 7y ago
You can run for office. Of course, you need to convince enough other people to agree with you.
pimmen 7y ago
Lots of things beside petitions. You can run for office. If you find no parties that share any of your values, form one. You can raise the issue in the media which would pressure the government. You would probably not get kidnapped while on vacation in Thailand, and then get locked up without a trial and a forced confession through torture, just for criticizing the UK government. If it's something that affects an entire class of people, such as a certain profession, you could organize something like a labor strike or a protest. And if all else fails, you could actually just break an existing law you think is unfair. You would get an actual trial administered by an independent justice system where you get to defend your actions, you can then argue that the law is unfair and restricted your life in a cruel way. Sadly, it had to come to measures like this for LGBT rights to improve in the UK. You also mentioned "but the people I live around don't". In China it wouldn't matter if everyone around you care about the issue, something will only happen if the CCP deems it necessary.