Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
On another thread, we were discussing the fact that democracy is having a bit of a rough patch of late. I suggested that, as the UK thinks of itself as 'the father of modern [parliamentary] democracy' we could perhaps start to think about what 'democracy v2.0'* might look like.
I think the main thing that has broken down is the relationship between people and Parliament; Parliament now seems to exist largely to serve its own interests, and those of the powerful individuals and lobbies which surround and fund it. Party influence and survival has supplanted the national interest as the overriding concern, witness the 'short-termism' embedded in government decision making, and the way powerful lobbies can influence key decisions.
So I'd like to see decision-making put back to people, and moreover, the regions being more evenly represented. I'm not talking about referendums, but about People's Assemblies, Citizens' Juries, and similar. These require that ordinary people are, temporarily, co-opted to decide policy or direction of travel on key issues. Most importantly, the people are properly informed, by experts, about all sides of the issue before being asked to vote on it. I've seen a Citizens' Jury in action, and it is deeply impressive, and heartening, to see how seriously and diligently most participants approach the task.
I'd like to see these set up on a regional basis, not just the four nations, but regions within those nations with different priorities, so England, say, would have, at the least, regional assemblies for the North West, North East, Midlands, South West, as well as London and the Home Counties. Each would carry equal weight. They could all feed into a central National Assembly, which would in effect be Parliament v2.0, and which would have the task of deciding on the outcome based on the balance of input from the various regional assemblies. The National Assembly should not be in London, but more centrally, geographically speaking, and might even move around from time to time. Not sure how we best elect National Assembly members, but I think we should devise a way to reduce the influence of political parties.
For the cost of a few convention-style buildings, and some logistical and admin/research support, you could have this running, arguably in a workable form for something like the costs of the restoration of the Palace of Westminster.
Anybody else got any ideas?
*yes, I know, Ancient Greece and all that means it might have to be v3.0, but whatever
I think the main thing that has broken down is the relationship between people and Parliament; Parliament now seems to exist largely to serve its own interests, and those of the powerful individuals and lobbies which surround and fund it. Party influence and survival has supplanted the national interest as the overriding concern, witness the 'short-termism' embedded in government decision making, and the way powerful lobbies can influence key decisions.
So I'd like to see decision-making put back to people, and moreover, the regions being more evenly represented. I'm not talking about referendums, but about People's Assemblies, Citizens' Juries, and similar. These require that ordinary people are, temporarily, co-opted to decide policy or direction of travel on key issues. Most importantly, the people are properly informed, by experts, about all sides of the issue before being asked to vote on it. I've seen a Citizens' Jury in action, and it is deeply impressive, and heartening, to see how seriously and diligently most participants approach the task.
I'd like to see these set up on a regional basis, not just the four nations, but regions within those nations with different priorities, so England, say, would have, at the least, regional assemblies for the North West, North East, Midlands, South West, as well as London and the Home Counties. Each would carry equal weight. They could all feed into a central National Assembly, which would in effect be Parliament v2.0, and which would have the task of deciding on the outcome based on the balance of input from the various regional assemblies. The National Assembly should not be in London, but more centrally, geographically speaking, and might even move around from time to time. Not sure how we best elect National Assembly members, but I think we should devise a way to reduce the influence of political parties.
For the cost of a few convention-style buildings, and some logistical and admin/research support, you could have this running, arguably in a workable form for something like the costs of the restoration of the Palace of Westminster.
Anybody else got any ideas?
*yes, I know, Ancient Greece and all that means it might have to be v3.0, but whatever