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Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only. www.brucenixon.com Chapter 11 - Unlocking democracy – giving power to communities and people; providing real choice; government that serves citizens April 2009 Unlocking democracy at all levels is the vital if we are to bring about the great transformation that is needed. We need powerful democracy to overcome all those vested interests that obstruct change and endanger the lives of millions. In the UK, we are fortunate to live in one of the better democracies but it is not good enough. Brave women and men fought hard for it over the centuries. All over the world, people have sacrificed their lives in the struggle to give power to citizens, regardless of their wealth, gender, colour, race, religion or age and to protect it. It has been a long journey and we still have a long way to go. We also benefit from many independent “think-tanks”, research organisations, campaign groups and non-governmental organisations. Although they cannot match the funds spent by big business on lobbying and advertising, their campaigns are extremely effective. As Churchill said, “Democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” The campaign for democratic reform in the UK is part of a process that is happening all over the world. There are constant campaigns urging people to lobby their MPs, Ministers and the Prime Minister and sign petitions. Many campaigns have resulted in successful legislation, such as the Sustainable Communities Act, through Early Day motions initiated by independent minded MPs. Friends of the Earth achieved major changes to the UK Climate Change Act 2008. What is wrong with UK Democracy? Dissatisfaction with and disengagement from politics has been at an all time high. It is not that people are unconcerned about political issues. They have lost faith in the political system. The new coalition will have to address a widespread belief that citizens have little influence over government, especially between elections. The Power Inquiry, Chaired by Baroness Helena Kennedy, showed a widespread belief that transnational corporations had more influence on our daily lives than the government. This is unlikely to have changed. Disengagement is at an all time high Turnout of UK electors is amongst the lowest in Western countries. Turnout in USA is even lower. Turnout is particularly low in local government elections. Voting decline is highest amongst younger people Turnout has steadily declined since the sixties What are the causes? Causes of UK disillusionment with politics An overwhelming feeling of disempowerment One of the most centralised governments in Europe A widespread belief that whichever party one votes for, makes little difference – there is no real choice – power rests with rich elites, transnational corporations and big financial interests 146
Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only. www.brucenixon.com At both national and local level, people have little confidence in consultations which they see as “fixed” , the results ignored Expensive inquiries are whitewash exercises Politicians are not trusted and their behaviour is widely disliked - seen as adversarial, abusive to one another, untruthful and lacking integrity Broken pledges The composition of the House of Commons does not reflect voters’ intentions The second chamber is still unelected and subject to patronage MPs and Ministers are seen as too close to and too much influenced by corporations Sums spent by corporations on lobbying government and MPs cause a of lack of confidence Funding of parties is highly questionable and a constant source of controversy Frequent reports of sleaze and corruption in both houses of Parliament; member voting themselves over- generous pay settlements, expenses and pensions; abusing expenses and obstructing investigations A more representative voting system is needed. The composition of Parliament does not reflect the wishes of the people. In 2005, six voters in ten supported a party other than New Labour, yet New Labour won six out of every ten seats in the House of Commons. In 1997, only 37% of people between 18 and 24 voted. Between y 1964 and 2001, identification with political parties dropped from 44% to 14%. In the 2001 election, 52% of voters did not vote and in that year and 2005 more eligible people did not voted than voted. Votes cast were New Labour 35.2%, Conservative 32.3%, Lib Dem 22%, other 10.5%. Seats in the House of Commons were New Labour 55.7%, Conservative 30.7%, Lib Dem 9.6%, other 4.6%. That is what a first past the post (F PTP) system does. Significantly, no elected institution created since 1997 has used first past the post (FPTP). Despite its promise in 1997 to hold a referendum on how we elect MPs, New Labour dragged its feet for thirteen years and did not fulfil its promise. A fair voting system would enable a far wider spectrum of information and opinion to be contributed to policy. Arguably, there would be better dialogue, leading to better decisions. Parties would be forced to collaborate and reach consensus. Parties would no longer be able to inflict extreme policies on us -in effect, dictatorship by the party that unfairly wins most seats. Proportional representation would enable smaller parties, like the Greens, to gain more seats and a greater diversity of parties would be able to contribute. More people would feel their votes counted and their views were represented. They would have an incentive to vote for the party of their choice, rather than vote tactically or not at all. We need deliberative processes and dialogue of the highest quality in reaching key decisions about whether to go to war, how to deal with climate change and other difficult and complex issues. This requires intellectual integrity, willingness to listen with an open mind in search of solutions that will benefit the vast majority of people in the world. Decisions need to be informed by the widest range of expertise and opinion, not outweighed by powerful vested interests or party political considerations. This is far from what we see in the House of Commons. An adversarial party political system, including “whipping” is completely out of step with the rigorous decision processes needed today. Instead we see a witty display, point scoring, blame, denial and lack of responsibility. As Jean Lambert, Green Party MEP for London said at a meeting I attended: 147
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