Taking the Initiative: The case for citizen-led decision making
Article posted by Unlock Democracy
In recent years, petitions and referenda have captured the public imagination like never before. But citizens have been left frustrated by the lack of a formal mechanism for acting upon their results.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that we need to bridge the gap between the passion of citizen-led activism and the formality of the political process. In this pamphlet, politicians, thinkers and campaigners discuss ways in which we can do this whilst retaining the best aspects of both.
With articles by Douglas Carswell MP, Bruno Kaufmann, Saira Khan, Prof Matt Qvortrup, Diana Wallis MEP and Derek Wyatt MP.
Taking the Initiative: The case for citizen-led decision making
August 29th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
[...] This is an edited extract from a larger article by Derek Wyatt about Citizens’ Initiatives and e-Democracy in the recently released Unlock Democracy pamphlet “Taking the Initiative – the Case for Citizen-led decision making“. [...]
September 25th, 2007 at 9:31 am
[...] AV is an imperfect solution September 25, 2007 at 10:30 am | In Electoral reform | Peter Facey (London, Unlock Democracy): As someone who watches the debate about our electoral system with a keen (if not nerdish) interest and tries to read the tea leaves of what it means for our future, two things are becoming clear. Firstly support for reform of our political institutions and our electoral system is growing among Labour thinkers and leaders. And secondly it’s not a proportional reform but a majoritarian one that is gathering momentum. [...]
October 30th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
[...] Collapse of Hayden Phillips talks spells trouble Posted on 30 October 07, 10:32 pm by ourkingdom Peter Facey (London, Unlock Democracy): If the parties cannot now reach agreement, there will be terrible long term consequences for the reputation and state of British politics.We should be clear: the collapse of these talks will not mean an end to increases in public funding of political parties. Since Sir Hayden began work on this project, MPs voted themselves an additional £10,000 annual Communications Allowance. What this will mean is that grassroots politics will continue to decline and national politics will continue to be dominated by relatively few ’sugar daddies’. [...]