THE GUARDIAN: Guardian Exclusive: Corporate power, unrepresentative politicians and apathetic voters leave UK 'increasingly unstable', says study
A study into the state of democracy in Britain over the last decade warns it is in "long-term terminal decline" as the power of corporations keeps growing, politicians become less representative of their constituencies and disillusioned citizens stop voting or even discussing current affairs.
The report by Democratic Audit shared exclusively with the Guardian notes there have been many positive advances over the last 10 years: stronger select committees of MPs holding ministers and civil servants to account; devolution of power to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and publication of much more information about politicians' expenses and party donors. But it found evidence of many other areas where Britain appeared to have moved further away from its two benchmarks of representative democracy: control over political decision-making, and how fairly the system reflects the population it represents – a principle most powerfully embedded in the concept of one person, one vote.
Among its concerns, identified from databases of official statistics and public surveys, were that Britain's constitutional arrangements are "increasingly unstable" owing to changes such as devolution; public faith in democratic institutions "decaying"; a widening gap in the participation rates of different social classes of voters; and an "unprecedented" growth in corporate power, which the study's authors warn "threatens to undermine some of the most basic principles of democratic decision-making". » | Juliette Jowit, political correspondent | Friday, July 06, 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Local democracy: the future looks bleak for political activism: Party faithful soak up gripes about bins – but is anyone at the top listening to their woes? John Harris reports Ron Hogben steps out from his groundfloor flat and lets rip: problems with his bins, the lack of parking, bus lanes, the cost of replacing his windows, why Britain should get out of what he insists on calling "the EEC", and the crazy excesses of the 2012 Olympics. I then ask him about his view of party politics. "Let's be truthful: you get a local MP that promises you this, that and the other, but he's only going to toe the line," says Hogben, 59. "My idea of a politician is a thief, a liar and a cheat." » | John Harris | Friday, July 06, 2012
