Democracy and political participation

1. Democracy and political participation Apr 14 Update

2. What is political participation? • “What touches all must be decided by all” • The “all” is usually assumed to be the citizens of a state, and “what touches” them are usually assumed to be the political decisions that affect their lives • Thus, political participation is the requirement for citizens to be involved in the political decision making of the state in which they live • This participation is defined by the nature of the society in which people live • In a direct democracy, every citizen has the chance to make an impact on every decision put before the citizen body

3. What is political participation? • In a representative democracy, the mass of citizens does not have a direct input into decision making and must use a variety of other means for their political participation. • These include: • Voting in elections • Voting in referendums • Joining political parties • Joining pressure groups • Becoming activists in political parties and pressure groups • Taking part in political consultation exercises (eg meetings held by party leaders around the country; polling; focus group membership)

4. Political Participation in a Representative Democracy • Representatives are elected to make decisions on behalf of the electorate • Edmund Burke argued that representatives should act according to their conscience, and not in response to the wishes of their constituents who elected them for their own judgement. • This argument might suggest that citizens’ participation should extend only to voting, leaving representatives to get on with the business of governing • Others argue, however, that representatives should act in accordance with the wishes of their constituents • This implies the need for greater participation on citizens’ parts over and beyond just voting

5. Participation and Democracy • It is important not to confuse democracy with participation • Communist societies had high levels of voting and party membership, but are not considered to have been ‘democratic’ in the western sense of the word • The problem was that citizens in these societies exercised little actual control over the political agenda • So political participation is about exercising popular control over decision making.

6. The democratic deficit – a problem of participation • Many commentators today suggest that Britain is suffering from a ‘democratic deficit’ due to low levels of political participation • Turnout in General Elections has been falling since 1979 • Turnout in 1979 was 76%; in 2001 it was 59.4%; it rose slightly to 65.2% in 2010 • This compares with turnout of 83.9% in 1950 • European and local elections have seen even lower turnouts (34.7% in 2009 European elections; 31.1% in the 2012 local elections) • The lowest turnout was 15.1% for the police commissioner elections • Even the last referendum – on AV in 2011 – only 42% bothered to register an opinion.

7. Further evidence for a democratic deficit - participation • In 1980, 4.1% of the electorate (1.69 million people) were members of a political party • By 2010, only 0.8% of people were members of a political party (397,000) • Pressure group politics has seen a rise in participation, but this is essentially a lobbying role, not an attempt to directly influence politics from within • It can be argued that lack of participation has reduced active politics to an elitist pursuit • 90% of MPs hold a university degree • 35% of MPs were privately educated

8. Further evidence for a democratic deficit - institutional • Institutions can contribute to a democratic deficit • Voting system: FPTP produced 52.8% ‘wasted votes’ – those cast for a losing candidate – in 2010 • Parliament has undemocratic elements – House of Lords, a hereditary monarchy • Much power has been devolved to the EU, which is largely unrepresentative • In local government, 55% of income still comes from Westminster, which can direct how the money is spent; this gives only limited autonomy to local councils

9. What measures have been used to increase participation? • Televised debates between the party leaders were used in the 2010 general election, although these did not result in any significant increase in turnout • A change in the electoral system was rejected in the 2011 referendum, although this may have been partly due to the choice offered • Compulsory voting is used in some democracies (eg Australia) but is seen as inherently illiberal • Labour and Liberal Democrats have voted in favour of reducing the voting age to 16 (in a January 2013 backbench motion) to encourage voting habits whilst still in school

10. What measures have been used to increase participation? • E-petitions have seen a high level of use – 6.4 million people signed them in the first year – but can only trigger a Commons debate, not substantive action. • Electronic voting could be a way forward, despite concerns over security; they would reduce long queues at polling stations such as occurred in the 2010 general election, and being easier might persuade more people to vote. • Parliamentary reform would remove some institutional obstacles, but Lords reform was vetoed by Conservative MPs. Liberal Democrats then voted against equalising constituency sizes.

11. What measures have been used to increase participation? • David Cameron has offered a referendum on the EU in 2017 if he is re-elected • The Scottish Devolution referendum may affect the situation in Westminster of Scottish MPs voting on ‘English Only’ issues (eg the 2004 tuition fees introduction, affecting only English students, was passed with Scottish votes)

12. Conclusion • Political Participation is generally seen as necessary for a healthy civic society, with citizens actively engaging in politics (Rousseau, John Stewart Mill both endorsed this view) • Measures to increase the opportunities to vote have not, however, produced success, as seen in the police commissioner elections, and in the 2012 rejection by many cities of elected mayors. • The AV referendum, too, produced a low turn-out • The real problem is encouraging citizens to once again engage with active politics, and it is the parties and their elected politicians who should be at the forefront of this.

13. Conclusion • The MPs expenses scandal (which still has repercussions today, as seen in the Maria Miller case) has not encouraged people to believe that a political vocation is worthwhile, or to have faith – and an interest – in their elected representatives • The parties are struggling to project distinctive characteristics and policies to an electorate which believes they are all too similar. • Interestingly, it is possible that it is in such areas as mayoral politics that we might see a solution – Sebastian Payne in the ‘Spectator’ argued that city mayors were better change agents than MPs (Apr 12th edition) • A less sceptical media might also help generate more positive views of political involvement