Several recommendations emerge. The preservation of the Westminster model of democracy cannot be taken for granted. Discussions about parliamentary sovereignty, including limits on the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union, should be a prime component of negotiation and of public debate before the UK’s EU referendum. The UK should examine whether it wishes to continue to subscribe by “soft law” to agreements reached under previous governments, such as Council of Europe Recommendation Rec 2003(4). British agreement to international conventions with constitutional implications (such as the UN Convention Against Corruption) should always be subject to debate in the House of Commons. The Committee on Standards in Public Life should conduct a thorough review of electoral administration with a view to improving the completeness and accuracy of the electoral register through a national civilian register. Finally, the UK should invest more of its development budget in promoting the Westminster model of democracy abroad.
Yet detailed policy proposals do not grasp the fundamental problem, which is the neglect and trivialisation of democracy as a subject of fundamental concern. I was recently struck and saddened by the reactions of two academics who have devoted their lives to the most distinguished research into politics when I discussed the problems set out in this article with them. Both answered to the effect that democracy was, after all, of secondary importance. This too was the implication of the fine debate organised by the Europaeum at the Oxford Union last November in which José Manuel Barroso and Nick Clegg emerged triumphant in their advocacy of European union. Their case was legitimate but their grounds were jarring. On its own, the UK would have little international influence, and its economy would suffer (an Oxford economics professor sitting next to me quietly muttered his disagreement). Above all, urged Barroso, it is “pragmatic” for the UK to remain within the EU because it faces “unknown unknowns”. Where in this debate was consciousness of the need to maintain and foster democracy?
Regardless of the case for or against Britain’s EU membership, the decision must surely be based above all on how best to assure government of the people, by the people, for the people. When it comes to the actual mechanics of elections, tolerance of the disgraceful tally of errors on the UK voting register shows a fundamental disrespect for the machinery on which our freedoms are based. Who will take democracy seriously?
Yet detailed policy proposals do not grasp the fundamental problem, which is the neglect and trivialisation of democracy as a subject of fundamental concern. I was recently struck and saddened by the reactions of two academics who have devoted their lives to the most distinguished research into politics when I discussed the problems set out in this article with them. Both answered to the effect that democracy was, after all, of secondary importance. This too was the implication of the fine debate organised by the Europaeum at the Oxford Union last November in which José Manuel Barroso and Nick Clegg emerged triumphant in their advocacy of European union. Their case was legitimate but their grounds were jarring. On its own, the UK would have little international influence, and its economy would suffer (an Oxford economics professor sitting next to me quietly muttered his disagreement). Above all, urged Barroso, it is “pragmatic” for the UK to remain within the EU because it faces “unknown unknowns”. Where in this debate was consciousness of the need to maintain and foster democracy?
Regardless of the case for or against Britain’s EU membership, the decision must surely be based above all on how best to assure government of the people, by the people, for the people. When it comes to the actual mechanics of elections, tolerance of the disgraceful tally of errors on the UK voting register shows a fundamental disrespect for the machinery on which our freedoms are based. Who will take democracy seriously?
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