A Better Way democracy
At our annual Gathering in December there was enthusiasm for pursuing the theme of what a Better Way democracy would look like in 2023, particularly as it cuts to the heart of our Better Way principle, mass participation is better than centralised power. We thought a good starting point might be to bring some people from within our existing network who have expertise in different dimensions of this to think about the issue and how to take this forward. This group met for the first time on 9 March 2023.
Caroline Slocock, the co-convenor of a Better Way, opened the discussion by saying that a lot of people are concerned about the health of the UK’s democracy. Surveys consistently show that many people feel the system of government isn’t working for them, especially those in lower socio-economic groups, and this is reflected in low levels of voter turn out, especially at local government level, and especially amongst certain groups, including young people, many of whom have ‘switched off’. Politicians tend to appeal to those groups most likely to vote, and respond to the issues of most interest to the majority, rather than also listening and responding to minority concerns or interests. A growing populist trend of stoking divisions and pursuing a ‘them and us’ agenda is undermining the potential for healthy dialogue.
She also pointed to growing calls for doing things differently in politics, including from the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, who called last year for ‘a radical reinvention of the political system’, and Alistair Campbell, a former senior figure in the last Labour government and now an influential podcaster and commentator, who has expressed concern about people’s sense of powerlessness and has said that politics needs to be reinvented through the activism of young people. Last year, Sir John Major, a former Conservative Prime Minister, in a keynote lecture In Democracy We Trust, lamented the state of the UK’s democracy and called for a change in the funding of political parties. The 2022 Labour Conference overwhelmingly backed a motion to adopt proportional representation, though this has not yet been adopted as Labour Party policy. However, the Labour Party has committed itself to greater decentralisation of political power and is considering reform of the House of Lords.
Many of the Better Way principles point to a fundamental shift in how things are currently done in our political system, including mass participation is better than centralised power and local is better than national. Moreover, the changes we want to see, and many of the Better Way principles such as prevention is better than cure and building on strengths is better than focusing on weaknesses, cannot be achieved without a system which is better at building a consensus to deliver for the interests of future generations and everyone in society, she said.
The Better Way behaviours of sharing and building power, listening to each other, especially those least heard, joining forces and putting relationships first all point to the way in which a Better Way democracy might function, she said. In various discussions within a Better Way, many of the tools for doing so had been explored, for example, citizen engagement, participatory grant-making and Scotland’s Community Empowerment Act, and we had heard in a session with Dr Henry Tam about the importance of re-building trust in democracy through, for example, changing the power balance by building civic parity. The network is also exploring methods, such as the use of imagination and the bridging of divides, which could be relevant to a Better Way democracy and help take the discussion forward, she concluded.
James Perry, a founding member of a Better Way and a member of our core group, added a few opening reflections. He shared the need for systemic change in the way business is conducted which had led him to co-found the B-Corp model in the UK. It reprograms business to benefit all communities, people and the planet rather than just maximising profits for shareholders. There are now 1,000 B-Corporations in the UK, which is starting to shift the culture. However, he reflected that systemic change remains a long way off, because there is no such thing as a ‘free’ market. The current market is designed – through the complex set of incentives and regulations – to promote profit maximisation for shareholders. If we are to transition the economy to work for everyone, sustainably, we urgently need to redesign markets. Which requires functioning politics. But this is not possible because politics is similarly log-jammed in an outdated operating model. It has essentially become a duopoly - two entrenched legacy power-holding parties designed to oppose and preserve the status quo, rather than rewarding collaboration and progress.
Proportional representation is a first step toward that change, he thought, and it would be good to get behind that electoral reform, but it was also necessary to build a brand or narrative for a different way of doing politics which is exciting and engages the imagination of young people in particular.
Here are some of the points made in the discussion that followed:
the challenges to be overcome include: short-termism and the centralisation of the British state, alienation from and lack of trust in government, social divisions and political rhetoric which is dividing people, including the culture wars, changes to voter ID which may lead to disenfranchisement and threats to the independence of the Electoral Commission, and a fundamental lack of social connection and capital, promoting lethargy, atomisation and fear.
That said, the culture wars are not yet touching many people, there are positive long term currents, especially changes in social attitudes which are now majority views amongst younger people, and pressure for change is building up from below. It was also pointed out that our system does have some strengths, especially compared to some other countries in Eastern Europe, and has recently been shown to work in being able to force out Prime Ministers who have not followed constitutional norms.
There was a generally shared view in the group about the importance of proportional representation in helping to move toward a less oppositional form of politics and a longer term focus, but there was also a feeling that ‘turkeys don’t vote for Christmas’ so there was work to be done if this was ever going to happen in Westminster.
‘Message, movement and leadership’ are needed to build a consensus for a Better Way democracy, starting with clarity about the change required. The message must be grounded in issues that relate directly to people’s lives and there must be a clear narrative. It might help to tie into single issue areas which bring disparate groups together, for example climate change and social justice.
It was argued that an example that demonstrates the power of a clear message, effective leadership and movement building is the campaign to leave the EU originally launched by Nigel Farage (and regarded as a lost cause), which was narrative, story and character driven. However, although the campaign had delivered its target, it is a matter of debate as to whether it had delivered more power or control for ordinary people.
It is important not to reinvent the wheel and to be concrete about what will deliver change: there are already many system changes such as PR and participatory practices that have already been tested and are proven to work. It important to turn these quickly into specific, practical proposals that can be adopted.
There may be a role in bringing in people from the creative industries to bring some new energy and innovation into communications and campaigning. Support from popular figures like Gary Lineker might increase the reach.
Alliances should be built. Some work was already being done to reach out to charities to show the power of PR in their area. Dialogue with others in this space, for example, Citizens UK, the Northern Powerhouse and Acorn would be useful. There are also people within the system who are sick of it and connecting with them to form new allies would be valuable.
It was argued that a good place to start was with the local and grass roots movements - building change upwards rather than waiting for power to be devolved downwards. We should identify and celebrate the ‘community weavers’ who can help build the social fabric and cohesion around unmet needs.
In conclusion, the group talked about two ways in which this discussion could be taken forward.
First, the group agreed that as a practical first step it would be valuable for the group to meet again to share ideas and lessons from their own work and reflect on how a Better Way thinking might help. This might possibly lead to some coordination of their activities, for example. At the next meeting, it was agreed we would hear more about the work of Compass on PR.
Secondly, the convenors agreed to consider how the issues might be brought into other Better Way discussions to gain wider insights and ideas.