SOK MOD 1 NOTES 1ST YEAR

Rise of Democracy
• Democracy originated from Athens, Greece.
• Athens was ‘made up’ of 5 city-states.
• City states are a group of people living in a common territory of
land. They observe the same rules.
• Citizens were divided into 2: Citizens with political rights and
citizens without political rights (men who were 18 and had no
status)
• Non-citizens: Women and children

Early Forms of Government

• Monarchy – Royalty (King and/or Queen) (Absolute/ Constitutional)
• Oligarchy – power rests with a small number of people.
• Tyranny – Government is oppressive (very strict)
• Democracy (500 B.C) – Power amongst all citizens

Ancient Greek Democracy

• Emerged in Athens around 508 BC.
• This type of Democracy was different. It was a direct democracy
because people had power themselves. Nowadays, we have an
indirect power because we elect politicians to represent us.
• The only people who had power where males over 18. The rest
were considered as ‘peasants’ and had no power at all.

Important figures in Athenian Democracy

• Solon: First to lay the foundation of Athenian Democracy, derived
new laws.
• Pericles: Pericles was a prominent and influential Greek
statesman.
• Plato: Criticized Democracy.

Types of Democracy
• Direct Democracy: Citizens have more power than in a
representative democracy. (“pure democracy”)

Switzerland and Direct Democracy:

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• In Switzerland the people play a large part in the federal political

decision-making process. (Direct democracy)
• Citizens can propose changes to the constitution or ask for a
referendum to be held on any law voted by the parliament.

Since 1990, referendums have been held on such diverse issues:

• Shortening working hours
• Building new airplane railways.
• To introduce a monthly basic income monthly (2016)

Indirect (Representative Democracy):

• Indirect democracy, or representative democracy, is when citizens
elect representatives to make laws for them.
• These representatives act in the interest of the people.

Strengths and weaknesses of direct and indirect democracy

Direct Democracy:
ü Divides power between many
people.
ü Decisions are likely to be made for
the benefit of the majority.

û Unwillingness to take
responsibility
û Low – turnout
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Indirect Democracy:
ü More practical
ü Freedom of speech

û It takes a voice away from the minority.

û Focus on the majority.

Tyranny of the Majority

• Decisions made by a majority place its interests above those of an
individual or minority group, constituting active oppression
comparable to that of a tyrant or despot.

Forms of Government (nowadays)

1. Monarchy
• A king or Queen who rules the country.
• There are two types of Monarchy – Absolute or Constitutional.
• An absolute Monarchy is a type of monarchy is the sole source of
power and authority.
• Decisions are solely taken by the King or Queen.
• In a Constitutional Monarchy has a King or Queen but the
government actually operates under a constitution.

2. Dictatorship
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• Sometimes also referred to as totalitarianism.

• Led by one leader with ultimate power and authority.
• Not that common nowadays, however there are some countries
which are still ruled by a dictator.
• In this type of government, people lack freedom of speech,
freedom of choice, freedom of movement and a lot of censorship.
• Strict and harsh laws.

Some Dictators:
Hitler, Kim Jong Un, Saddam Hussein

3. Communism
• Originated by Karl Marx.
• In a communist government, everyone should be equal and social
classes are non-existent.
• The government believes in owning all means of production and
eliminating private property.
• Marxism is the theory and communism is the practical
implementation of Marxism.

(This is relevant for sociology as well)

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• Bourgeoisie - Own the means of production (example: factories)

• Proletariat – Work for the Bourgeoisie

4. Anarchy
• Government is not present.
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Citizenship
• Dual citizenship is when a person has two citizenships.
• Multi citizenship is when a person has more than two citizenships.
How can someone obtain a Maltese citizenship?
• By birth
• By descent (one of your parents is Maltese)
• By naturalization (by living in Malta for 5 years)
• By marriage
• By investment (buying it)

Other countries that allow people to buy the citizenship:

• France
• Cyprus
• Canada

The Law

• Laws are reinforced to ensure maximum safety and so that no

havoc is caused.
• Justice must be served when people break these laws.
• A lawless country will cause a lot of problems
and illlegal activities.
• Some lawless countries: Colombia, Somalia,
Brazil and Iraq.
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Active Citizenship

Active citizenship can be described in two ways:

• Vertical participation: involves active citizenship in terms of
engagement with the state (in a political way – civic engagement)
• Horizontal participation: engaging at a community level, ex:
volunteering, helping the community, etc. (civil engagement)

Citizenship education
• Education intends to prepare us to become responsible and active
citizens.
• Socialization – primary and secondary
• Primary socialization – The parents or guardians teach norms and
values to their children.
• Secondary socialization – School, religious institutions, clubs etc.

Global Citizenship
• A global citizen is someone who identifies with being part of an
emerging world community and whose actions contribute to
building this community’s values.
• Through social media and technology, we are connecting with
each other all the time, even with people outside the country. As a
result, we are becoming more globalized.

Theory
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• “ A good citizen is one who enjoys freedom, is vigilant to defend it

against abuse of power and participates in public affairs especially
in local community” – Oliver and Heater’s definition of citizenship.

Miller’s views on citizenship

• Miller argues that Citizenship is about values.

Miller identified 3 models of citizenship:

• Citizenship as a set of rights and obligations that gives every
citizen an equal status in political community
• The citizen is seen as a consumer of public services who therefore
has consumer rights.
• The citizen not only has rights, but is someone who is actively
involved in shaping the way that his or her community function.
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Women & Democracy
• Women’s suffrage is the right of women to vote and run for office
(president).
• The first country that gave women the right to vote is New
Zealand, in 1893.
• The Swiss (Switzerland) referendum on women’s suffrage was
held on February 1st, 1959. The majority of voters (since they
were men) voted ‘No’. Women in Switzerland gained the right to
vote in federal elections after a referendum in February 1971.
• The last country that gave women the right to vote was Saudi
Arabia, in 2015.
• Nowadays, women in parliament are still discriminated to a certain
extent

Women’s rights: Today

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• The gender pay gap or gender wage gap is the average

difference between the pay for men and women who are
working.
• Women are generally considered to be paid less than men.
• For girls living in India, virginity and purity is given the utmost
importance, not education.

Yemen
• An 8 year-old Yemeni girl died of internal bleeding on her
wedding night after marrying a man five times her age.

Saudi Arabia
• In Saudi Arabia, when leaving the house, women need to be
accompanied by a ‘mahram’ who is usually a male relative.
• When Saudi Arabia sent its female athletes to the London
games for the first time, hard-line clerics denounced the
women as ‘protitutes’ due to the tight gear they wore while
competing.

Women’s rights in Malta

• In Malta, women’s right to vote was granted in 1947.
• Although the Maltese population consists of more women
than men, there is still a low participation of women in
political matters.
• In the parliament, out of 67 members, only 7 are elected as
representatives of people.

Minority groups
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• Minority groups are subordinate groups whose members are at a

disadvantage when compared to other people.

Examples of minority groups:

• Religion
• Racial and Ethnic
• Age
• Gender
• Disability
• Sexual orientation

What is equality?
• Equality is treating everyone the same regardless of their gender,
religious beliefs, sexual orientation, etc.

What is discrimination?
• The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of
people, especially on the grounds of race, age, sex, or disability.

What is stereotyping?
• A stereotype is a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular
group or class of people. (Ex: People with tattoos are associated
with trouble and criminality)

Politics
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• Politics derives from politicos which means for citizens.

• It is the competition between competing interest groups or
individuals for power and leadership (as in a government).

What is a constitution?
• It is a written document which determines the extent to what rights
can be limited.
• Establishes the rules and principles by which an organisation is
governed.
• A constitution makes it clear to all members of society just what is
expected for them and what they can and cannot do.

Maltese constitution
• Malta is now a constitutional democracy, governed by the House
of Representatives.
• The chief of state is the president, who also serves a 5-year term
but is elected by the House of Representative.
• The leader of the majority party in the legislature is appointed
prime minister.

Elections
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• General elections in Malta are usually held every 5 years. Election

times vary, as the government may interrupt its mandate and seek
a re-confirmation through early polls.
• The party that gained the absolute majority of votes of the first-
count votes, 50% + 1 vote, governs Malta for the next legislature.

Malta Voting System

• The single transferable vote (STV) is a voting system designed to
reach proportional representation through ranked voting in multi-
seat constituencies (voting districts).
• Under STV, an elector has a single vote that is initially allocated to
his or her most preferred candidate, and then, as the count
proceeds and candidates are either elected or eliminated, is
transferred to other candidates according to the voter's stated
preferences.

(N.B. – You don’t have to know this in this much detail J)

Maltese districts
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• In Malta there are 13 districts in all.

• Citizens of each district elect 5 representatives through single
transferable vote.

Political parties & the parliament

• Normally in the House of Representatives (Kamra tad-Deputati)

there are 67 members ( 36 Labour Party, 28, Nationalist Party , 3
Independent)
• In Malta there are 3 main political parties Alternattiva Demokratika
(AD), Partit Laburista (PL), and Partit Nazzjonalista (PN).
• The Parliament of Malta consists of the President, Mr. Speaker,
Deputy Speaker, and Members of Parliament.

End of module J