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Learning About Constitutional Reforms.

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Learning about constitutional reforms.

Constitutional reform is a process whereby the fundamental nature of the system of government is changed or where a change is proposed. In the UK this may also involve the process of codification. Since 1997 there has been many key reforms that have made UK more democratic by a large amount and sometimes not so much if at all.

Firstly the House of Lords reform where the voting rights of most hereditary peers was abolished. This makes the UK less undemocratic rather then more democratic. This is due to the fact that the House of Lords as a whole is an unelected chamber and therefore undemocratic, however by removing the voting rights of some hereditary peers it makes it less undemocratic as they are there simply by birth and not even appointed. So this reform does make the UK slightly more democratic however some peers remain and the whole chamber is still unelected and so is still very undemocratic.

The referendum reform which is the introduction that any proposal to transfer power within the UK should be approved by a referendum. This makes the UK more democratic as it allows the country to become directly involved in the big decisions of devolution as it means large changes in there area/country and as a form of direct democracy makes the decision legitimate and fair. However it also can lead to voter fatigue and also only the government can decide when to put forward a referendum and so the power is not totally with the people. Also depending on wording of the question this can have an effect on the results and could be seen to be

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