Why There’s No Democracy in the UK
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British politics, the birthplace of Brexit and the continued traditions carried out over centuries. Britain is revered as a place of democracy and freedom, as everyone can be and act as they wish. But you might ask yourself: Is Britain really that democratic?
Britain vs Dictatorships
Some would say that the inhabitants of this small island are lucky, that we take for granted how free and prosperous we actually are. But they do this, often enough, by comparing Britain to countries that are dictatorships.
Our Electoral system
If you analyse and contemplate the system of this country, you find out that we are not entirely democratic in some people’s opinions.
For example, the whole system in which our representatives are elected is rather imperfect. We use the first-past-the-post system.
This means that the electorate vote for their ideal candidate and the one with the most votes wins.
But this can be seen as a rather crude way of exercising democracy, given that all the people that didn’t vote for the winning candidate are then subjected to five years as constituents to that candidate. If the candidate doesn’t truly represent them,
then how can they be honestly classed as ‘representatives’ of the people? We also have the expulsion of people and groups from the voting process entirely.
This includes prisoners, 16-to-18-year-olds and EU citizens (living in the UK). This in itself shows a fall in democracy.
British Parliamentary traditions
The House of Lords. Did you know that the House of Lords can delay a bill for up to one year? Why should they be able to postpone democracy and delay bills in this manner?
Blocking people’s parliamentary sovereignty by delaying it, possibly indefinitely, is hardly democratic.
Media and the press
Finally, there’s the media and the freedom of the press. The owners of these press and media companies are bosses of big corporations.
Some feel that this high status makes them unaccountable to the public. It is also the case that they often place their private agenda into the products they create.
The result, is that the public are easily swayed towards a certain political party or social movement, quite unbeknownst to them. Some would say, that this is a way of controlling your vote.
We are not a dictatorship, but neither are we a perfect democracy. Take your time and consider the above points before making your own mind up.
Landmark report shows UK citizens are
Of the Assembly’s members, 98% agreed that, ‘lying or intentionally misleading parliament’ should be punishable as a ‘contempt of parliament’: ‘As well as being made to give a public apology, MPs who break this rule should be fined or otherwise punished.’
Additionally, nearly all those involved supported the recommendation that, ‘The Code of Conduct for MPs, peers and government ministers needs to be strengthened to give clear guidance on what a breach will result in. Regulators need to recommend consistent sanctions to all parties and levels of office, and the public should be able to expect these to be imposed.’
Professor Alan Renwick (project lead and Deputy Director of the UCL Constitution Unit) said: “The Citizens’ Assembly on Democracy in the UK shows that people across the UK are deeply concerned about the state of our democracy. That’s not just a flash-in-the-pan response to Partygate. Even before the scandal grew, people wanted politicians who are honest and trustworthy, and an enhanced role for independent regulators.
“They oppose moves to side-line parliament or weaken the courts. And they want the system to be more responsive to considered public opinion. Assembly members have set out a programme of reforms that could help restore trust and enable healthier politics. It now lies with policymakers up and down the land to take these recommendations further.
In a film, launched today by the UCL Constitution Unit, members speak about the UK’s democracy and the process of being part of the Assembly. Laurel, who works in social care in London asked: “Why do I think we don’t have a voice? Money. When you’ve got money, you’ve got loads of voice. An organisation like the Citizens’ Assembly, they listen to the non-elites.”
John, a retired petrochemicals worker from near Edinburgh, said: “A Citizens’ Assembly should be assembled every time there’s a really important law to be passed to get the views of the public.”
The Assembly allowed members to hear from diverse experts, listen to each other’s different perspectives, and discuss key issues in depth. It built on the work of the previous UCL survey and gives a unique picture of how people view democracy and governance in the UK once they have had a chance to think about it carefully
G.I.T.C
The youth and prisoners
The Government has consistently ignored the voices and opinions of 16 and and 17 year-olds, especially concerning issues that affect their life prospects directly.
These notably include, the underfunding of schools and youth centres. If politicians gave the youth a say in how the country is run, the education system, for one, would be funded with greater efficiency.
Concerning the rights of prisoners. Arguably, our fundamental and human right in a democracy is that everyone ought to be able to cast their vote — and this should surely include the majority of prisoners, unless there are special reasons against their eligibility.
British Democracy Legal disputes
People have taken the issue concerning prisoners’ right to vote to the British courts and lost.
They then fought their case in the European Court of Justice and won. This protracted dispute suggests that Britain is a country that wants to limit the rights of certain voters.
The ECJ ruled in favour of giving prisoners the right to vote in the UK and ordered that Britain step in line with other EU member states on this matter. But Britain still hasn’t budged.
Landmark report shows UK citizens
are ‘deeply concerned’ about their democracy,
‘Dissatisfied’, ‘frustrated’ and ‘let down’ are words summing up how most people feel about the UK’s democracy today, finds an in-depth report from UCL and the UK’s leading public participation charity, Involve.
The report presents the conclusions of the new Citizens’ Assembly on Democracy in the UK, which was run by the UCL Constitution Unit to find out what people think about how the UK is governed and what they would like to change.
The new report finds that the UK public expect high standards from individuals in public life, want power to be spread out from government to parliament and the courts, and believe the public should have a stronger voice, both through their representatives and directly.
The Assembly also makes specific recommendations that relate directly to core elements of the government’s agenda, including the effects of the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act, the Judicial Review and Courts Bill, and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
The Assembly’s report follows on from a recent survey of nearly 6,500 people from the UCL Constitution Unit, which found that “being honest” and “owning up when they make mistakes” are the most valued traits in politicians.
The Citizens’ Assembly on Democracy in the UK, which ran for six weekends between 18 September and 12 December last year, comprised 67 members who were randomly selected to reflect the UK voting-age population in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, education, disability status, region, and political attitudes.
Assembly members were almost unanimous in criticising standards of behaviour among those in public life, and they felt strongly that existing mechanisms provided insufficient remedy to unethical conduct.
Landmark report shows UK citizens are
The Assembly agreed eight broad resolutions and 51 detailed recommendations in total. Other key conclusions included:
- 95% of members said, ‘The public should be able to trust their elected representative to behave honestly and selflessly. While the political system is intended to have mechanisms in place to police this, we believe that they are not working well and that greater involvement of independent regulators is needed.’
- 92% agreed, ‘We believe that parliament needs to be able to play a stronger role in scrutinising the actions of government. Collectively, it represents the voice of the electorate as a whole, whereas not everyone voted for the government.’
- 92% said, ‘We believe that there is an important role for the courts to play in limiting the laws that can be passed by government when they are seen to challenge basic rights and core democratic principles.’
- 83% said, ‘We believe that petitions are an important way for the public to influence government policy and what is debated in parliament, and that the use of petitions should be extended.’
Kaela Scott, Design and Facilitation Lead for the Citizens’ Assembly on Democracy in the UK and Direction of Innovation and Practice at Involve, added: “The recommendations from the Citizens’
Assembly show that when members of the public are given the opportunity to come together and learn about the complexities of our democratic system, and the time to really discuss and deliberate on the system and what they want from it, they can, despite their diversity, reach high levels of agreement.
“Their wide-ranging recommendations are informed by the evidence they heard, are internally consistent, and give a clear indication of where they believe change is needed to create a better democracy for everyone.”
Professor Renwick added: “The members for the Citizens’ Assembly worked incredibly hard to deliver this report and they deserve now to be taken seriously.”
“We’re now working to bring their proposals to policymakers in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. My message to politicians is to listen to them and consider what your next steps should be.”
