From Representative Democracy to Party Politics

Episode 4 explores the problems with the way we select our democratic representatives, both at a local level (selecting our local representative) and at a national level (selecting the group of representatives who will form our government.<ul><li>The challenges of adequately representing the interests of not only majorities, but also the interests of minorities, too.</li><li>What it means to get a majority of the vote – to get elected. In many instances, more people voted against our local representatives than voted for them.</li><li>Can a political party, which goes on to form a government, ever actually get a majority of the votes cast? (Spoiler alert – not recently!)</li><li>What about all those people who don't vote?&nbsp;</li></ul>Political parties form majority governments, without winning a majority of the votes cast nationally. But do we then really have a government which represents us?What does all of this that say about electoral mandates? – the legitimacy to make changes? – perhaps even big changes? And if the government doesn't represent us, then is it really a representative democracy?

Taking the Party out of Politics - Episode 4

Could selected Citizens (rather than 'elected representatives') actually be asked to do the jobs which our Government and Ministers are doing at the moment?

Could selected Citizens (rather than 'elected representatives') actually be asked to do the jobs which our Government and Ministers are doing at the moment?&nbsp;How successful could they be expected to be?&nbsp;What might we gain, and what might we risk losing?

Citizen Government

Scrutinizing what our elected Government and Ministers are doing in a way which is neutral, constructive, and independent.

A system which uses informed, balanced, objective, engaged people – citizens – to call our politicians to account, to check that they are doing their job.It’s not a party-political thing.&nbsp;But it is a political thing.&nbsp;It’s making sure that the process of Scrutinizing what our elected Government and Ministers are doing is neutral, constructive, and independent.

Citizen Scrutiny

Why Citizens' Assemblies are one of the ways we can improve our democracy

Get a small group of people together. Maybe 100. Specially selected to be representative of the range of people and perspectives across the country. Young, old. Rich, poor. Different races and genders. Different political views. Give them all the information about a topic. Let them ask all the questions they need to. Let them discuss it, and think about it. Let them hear from the experts, and from the people who really care about the topic. Let anyone who wants to, listen in. Publicize the process. Publicize the information and the ideas and the background to the topic. And then: ask that group of people to make a decision on that topic, on behalf of all of us. A decision which is nuanced and informed And then ask our elected representatives to follow up on that decision.

Citizens' Assemblies

Why politics isn’t working for us, the voters ... and why it isn’t really even working for the politicians

If you are just joining us today, then you are in luck, because today we are going to have a quick overview of all the big ideas which we have covered over the last 26 or so episodes. Why politics isn’t working for us, the voters, and why it isn’t really even working for the politicians who are trying to do their bests on our behalf, struggling to work within the political systems. Why there are some problems with the very nature of what we call representative democracy and electoral systems, but also why there are some problems which political parties bring on top of those structural problems. Today, we are going to group our review around three main areas: Voters and Voting, Representative Democracy, and Political Parties.

A Summary of Challenges

Understanding why it is complicated.  Perhaps impossible.

Why is it so difficult?&nbsp;Essentially, because of the three things which Brexiters wanted, you could only ever have two:1. The whole of the UK to leave the European Union on the same terms.&nbsp;2. Leave the single market and the customs union, and&nbsp;3. Avoid a border between the North and South of Ireland. You cannot avoid having at least one of the three things which Brexiters didn't want:A: leaving the EU and the customs union, means you have a border between North and South Ireland.B: not having a border, means the UK would stay in the customs union.C: Northern Ireland stays under some EU rules, meaning the whole of the UK didn't leave the EU on the same terms.This is what the Northern Ireland protocol entails.&nbsp;Checks are made on goods travelling between the UK and Northern Ireland.The disagreement is on how rigorously checks are made on goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

The Northern Ireland Protocol

Understanding the background and context to our (broken?) relationship with the EU

What are the misunderstandings which led to an unsuccessful, draining referendum and Brexit?1. We joined late. The rules had already been set (e.g. supporting French small farmers).2. The EU was always political: about pooling the things used to make war, as a way of avoiding war.&nbsp;&nbsp;But, the UK joined (primarily) for economic reasons.3. Symbolism matters. Our politicians (and Media) love to knock the EU, to blame things on the EU, to make cheap political capital by emphasising differences; us and them.&nbsp;&nbsp;There were never enough UK politicians standing up for the benefits of membership.4. Brexiters were right.&nbsp;It was complicated. But then it was also never going to be simple.If you were the person who thought: “I'm happy to be a member of common Market, but nothing more”, then you were quite right in wanting to be out.But you shouldn't have expected it to be easy. That's wanting to have your cake and eat it. Or, as they say in France, to have the butter and the money for the butter.If you (correctly) claim that the EU influences every aspect of our lives, then you also have to accept that there is no way that extricating yourself from something that complicated was ever going to be easy.

The UK and The EU

Understanding referendums in the UK, through a close look at the Brexit referendum

The idea of a referendum is to ask the people what they want.&nbsp;To give the people an opportunity to say what they really think.&nbsp;But it is really about resolving an argument between two different factions within a political party.A referendum needs a question which is easy to understand, and simple to answer.&nbsp;Otherwise the resulting vote doesn't give direction.&nbsp;But life isn't simple.&nbsp;Important questions aren't simple.&nbsp;That's why people argue for deliberative democracy.When all the dust has settled, and the campaigning groups have gone home, who is responsible for any irresponsible campaigning?&nbsp;What if any lies were told?&nbsp;Who is to blame?&nbsp;No one, it seems.

Referendums

Balancing short term electoral cycles with long term public benefit.

Public Health: maximizing population health gain."Basically, whatever resource we have as a system, then we want to use that in the most efficient, intelligent, effective way to get the most health gains for the population." (Andy Fox, Assistant Director of Public Health for Lincolnshire)In this podcast we explore what Public Health is attempting to do, and the balance between<ul><li>the timescales which are going to make a difference to helping whole populations to live healthier lives, and</li><li>the timescales of the elected politicians who control Public Health budgets.</li></ul>This is important work that takes years … overseen by elected politicians who don't have years.Public Health targets of 10 or 20 years, or more.&nbsp;Sometimes much, much more. Overseen by politicians who will face re-election in 4 or 5 years.Would you trust elected politicians? They need to show results within a term of office.But, then again, who else could we trust?Balancing … Long Term Aims (e.g. Public Health) with Short Term Electoral CyclesIt's a balance which is at the heart of our political system, in this and many other parts of our lives.&nbsp;It requires good people to do the best they can, often working within a structure which is not only unhelpful but nearly impossible.ZiNXJNKRuSe8Ne7Y2SOi

Public Health and Timescales

XR - why Citizens' Assemblies are one of the ways forward for democracy

Citizens' Assemblies: +/- 100 people, representing a balanced cross-section of society, learning about an important issue, agreeing on what action should be taken. Literally representing all of us.Learning on behalf of all of us. Thinking on behalf of all of us. Agreeing on what action is needed ... on behalf of all of us. Reporting back to us, with what they have learned. Showing us why their recommendations make sense. Reporting back to our government, with what they have learned. Showing our government why their recommendations make sense. Is our Government grown up enough to listen? Or do the members of our Government really believe that they are the only ones who can know anything, can understand anything, or can take any decisions on our behalf?

Why our political systems aren't working ... and what we could do about it

A podcast about understanding <ul><li>how politics is supposed to work, </li><li>why it isn’t working as well as it should be, </li><li>and what we might be able to do about it.&nbsp;</li></ul>Because, by understanding a little bit more about how things are supposed to work, and why they are a bit messed up, we might be able to get things to work a bit better.&nbsp;Perhaps even a lot better.

Taking the Party out of Politics

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