DEFICIT'S AND DEMOCRACY

The untold story from last Thursday’s election was not the ‘rise’ of UKIP, but the incredibly low turnout, an average of around 31%. This was 10% down on the last time these elections were held. Disenchantment with democratic politics is now widespread across Europe. Here it manifests as citizens simply refusing to engage with the political process. Motivated by rage at one end of the spectrum and by indifference at the other people simply do not bother to vote. This raises the question of how low turnout has to go before it calls the whole validity of the process into question?

Now representative government across Europe and the US as a form of political control and accountability has always been something of a sham; real power is retained by tiny elites and large multi-national corporations. Any serious attempt at challenging this power through the ballot box is always resisted using the immense armoury at the disposal of corporate capitalism; political parties are bought, the media is used as a weapon of manipulation and control, the law serves the interests of the elite, and in extremis there is always violence as the ultimate weapon to ensure that power stays in the hands of the few.

Yet the battle is never completely won for those with money and power, there are barriers and obstacles to the unfettered exercise of corporate power. Organised labour, citizen’s groups, campaigning organisations like UK Uncut and non governmental organisations [NGO’s] like Oxfam, all seek to hold the elite in check. Last, but by no means least there are representative democratic institutions. Everything from the defence of the environment and employment rights, to the rights of women, the disabled and marginalised can all be fought for and defended in representative forums, including Westminster itself. A steady decline in those turning out to vote is unlikely to engender caution and reticence among our elected politicians; it is more likely to engender insouciance and an arrogant spirit of unaccountability. “Listen,” they say in private, “the voters are apathetic, and they don’t care.”

Some on the left actually welcome the development of declining turnouts, believing this will ultimately de-legitimise the current political order. It may do, but I am not certain the outcome of an unfettered political elite ripping up the post war social democratic settlement is something to be sanguine about.

That said I think it important to draw attention to the democratic deficit represented by low turnout and disillusionment with elective politics. Politicians throw around the word apathy, when in reality there is anger and disgust.

The aftermath of the MP’s expenses scandal lingers on. The collapse of the banking system, which exposed the metaphorical and literal bankruptcy of a greedy and avarices class of criminals who successfully picked all our pockets for years and have got away with it; the cynicism of politicians like Cameron and Clegg who, having swallowed their sincerity pills, avow one policy before an election and another after, have led to ‘a plague on all your houses,’ mentality.

It is consequently important to remember that the Tory Party was specifically not elected at the last general election, receiving 10,703,654 votes, that is 36.1% of the vote, on a turnout of just over 65%. Yet they behave as if they enjoyed a massive popular mandate. Popular resistance to this coalition is not only legitimate but essential to redress the inadequacies of our electoral system.

But the little democracy that we have is ours, not theirs to dispose of as they see fit, our forebears fought for it. If it is to be rescued then we must start campaigning for this now. Below I list a number of policies to re-invigorate elective politics.  Some may seem trivial, some shallow, you can think of your own, they merely are intended as a start. The issue though is far too important to be allowed to continue to decline and fester:-

1. A concerted effort to ensure that all citizens enjoy the right to vote. This means a mass registration drive to get people on the Electoral Register. This will require an education campaign that sells the benefits of being on the register, (see below), and clearly de-coupling registering to vote from financial penalties, i.e. the legacy of the Poll Tax. It being explained that you will still have to pay local taxes whether you’re registered or not, so you might as well register.
2. Incentives both to register and to vote. This could come in the form of tokens redeemable against local services, e.g. parking permits etc. On registering and turning up to vote you could claim these tokens.
3. A concerted education campaign explaining how to vote. Having canvassed I can tell you that some people are intimidated by the process.
4. The creation of whole new forms of democratic process. For example legislation with significant implications for society as a whole e.g. gay marriage, the smoking ban, the dangerous dogs act, would need to go before citizens committees; these could be assembled rather in the same ways as jury service. You would need to be eligible to vote, be on the register and willing to commit time and energy. It should be easy however to opt out for a variety of reasons. Committee’s could meet virtually if need be and would have to report back to parliament within a set timescale.
5. Workers to be elected onto the boards of companies over a certain size. Shareholders too to have representation, though my bias would always be toward those who invest their lives rather than just their money.
6. A radical reform of the second chamber. This would need to be elected; though the electoral system should discourage party political affiliation and lean much more toward specific social groups, e.g. mothers, ethnic minorities, workers. Election would be short term and part time. This way the revising chamber would mirror the society it sought to represent.
7. The electoral system needs to be reformed. The distortions of ‘first past the post,’ have become too grotesque to ignore.[1]

These are just some ideas. Some requiring a good deal more work. Some might call them pipe dreams. Still that’s what they said to the Chartists. The prize of a re-invigorated democracy is very great indeed and the fight ought to be joined.

Finally I want you to close your eyes for a moment and imagine a world in which the poor voted in significant numbers. A world in which politicians were afraid of alienating the votes of the marginalised and disadvantaged; I think you would find your self living in a very different world.

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[1] During the fiasco of the recent referendum, which placed before the electorate one of the least desirable electoral systems some on the left voted for the status quo for fear that a more proportional system would allow in the BNP. The way to defeat argument in a democracy is by debate, not by disenfranchising those who hold repugnant views.

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