Our democracy is a relic. Ready for change?

The Labour movement column

By Anthony Painter / @anthonypainter

“A debate has roughly formed between those who blame the meltdown on the system, rigged up over years and decades, and those who vilify the people who most egregiously exploited the flaws in the system, however substantial those flaws may have been.”

The quote is Nick Paumgarten’s, writing in the current issue of the New Yorker. Of course, the word ‘meltdown’ sticks out like a sore thumb. Had we been talking about the expenses scandal – if that is a sufficient moniker – we may not have chosen ‘meltdown.’ In all other respects, this quote, characterising the financial implosion, could be applied to the current political situation. Is this just coincidence?

No, what has happened to global capital and what is happening to UK politics are intrinsically related. Out-dated practices, rules, and cultures define them both. In both cases a dangerous gulf between elites on the inside and those they have responsibility to opened up.

Deep within the DNA of every politician is an instinct to manage down, stonewall, diminish, or deflect any tricky issue. So it has been with the expense scandal. There was the woefully inadequate attempt to blame the system: all within the rules, we can understand why people are angry, we understand why you don’t understand, but it’s a terribly difficult job, our personal circumstances are so hard, we sometimes even have to get to work early in the morning you know, actually we may even warrant your sympathy, tough job but somebody’s got to do it.

Then came the gushing apologies. Elton John got it wrong. Sorry doesn’t seem to be the hardest word. When you are up against it, it’s the easiest word in the world. Michael Gove MP even called a public meeting so he could say it to as many people as possible. There is an unseemly scrum to grab microphones in radio studios up and down the land for a good old fashioned public self-flagellation. Hit me baby one more time.

Public displays of contrition would never be enough so further steps were needed: the rules have to change. Wait, didn’t we appoint a committee of inquiry to do that? Sir Christopher Kelly is busy trying to master steam engine technology while we are already in the age of the internal combustion engine. His inquiry is beginning to resemble those Japanese soldiers still fighting the Second World War in South-East Asian forests well after it’s finished. They might as well pack up now.

So the system will be fixed. Northern Rock was nationalised. HBOS was taken over by Lloyds TSB under the resolute leadership of Sir Victor Blank. Job done, show back on the road, back to business. And wow, Hank Paulson-style, there’s that David Cameron, media honed leader of the opposition, he’s ahead of the game. Phew. Hold on, did he just call for a General Election? Isn’t his party riding high in the polls? Isn’t that a bit self-serving? Wasn’t his hair a bit more coiffured a few days ago? It must be very windy on that moral high ground. Yep, and now he’s slipped Brian.

Well, just for good measure let’s throw the Speaker to the wolves. That will sort it. No, not quite enough? Let’s de-select a few MPs. Just the worst cases who will lose their seats anyway so why waste everyone’s time? Let’s show we’re serious. Apologies, reform, heads on the block, what more do people want? Now, can we get back to business as usual? We’ve listened, learned, acted, and none of this could appear in a script of The Thick of It.

Wait. What’s that? Lehman Brothers has collapsed? AIG? Lloyds TSB? RBS? What on earth is going on now? But we sorted all this. Why will it not just go away?

And this is the next stage of this political crisis. It will get worse because the issue isn’t merely expense claims. That is just the issue that has catalysed an underlying public discontent with the functioning of democracy. Just as the risky strategies of Northern Rock was not the underlying cause of financial meltdown, the actions of a number – a worryingly significant number of MPs admittedly – is not ultimately the source of the public anger that is now felt. It is, though, symbolic of something deeper.

This is why pleas to let Parliament sort out this situation are so off the mark. It is actually about the broader relationship between the elected, the decisions they make, and those who they represent. The City served itself not the public. Now there is an attitude that Parliamentarians are guilty of the same. Just as with the financial crisis things got worse before they got better, so it will be with this political crisis. It is not a Parliamentary issue. It is a democratic crisis and unless it is seen it that way, then things will only get worse.

Tabloid newsrooms scattered across the capital and elsewhere heard a deafening thud a few days ago as the reputation of Parliament dropped like a lead weight below them and hit the floor. Approval ratings of -61% make swine flu seem like a popular alternative. Vote, or bracing fever and quarantine with no guarantee of recovery? Tough call.

This is not simply an ‘opportunity’ for reform. It is a seismic change on a par with the Great Tokyo earthquake of 1923. Re-cladding will not be enough; it’s a ground-up job.

Just as the financial crisis was not just about individual institutions; this political crisis is pan-institutional. What needs to change? We need selection procedures that involve more of our supporters – in every election cycle as a matter of course. Primaries with strict limits on expenditure to prevent importing the worst aspects of the American system are vital. We can’t continue with an electoral system where so few votes are consequential. Alternative Vote seems a balanced alternative that retains direct and clear democratic linkages between the elected and the electorate. Fair competition is as good for democracy as it is for wealth generation. Parliament must be strengthened with regard to the executive. There must also be cultural change with all MPs adopting the methods and attitudes of their colleagues that are most responsive. The best must become the norm.

In other words, our democracy is a relic that must be fundamentally changed. Vote on June 4th. Campaign in the coming European and local elections – many very good MEPs and County Councillors deserve not to be thrown on the pyre. Let not the BNP gain representation, whatever your frustration and anger. But then campaign for change: in the Labour party, in Parliament, in our democracy. This is bigger than can be imagined. It’s about a new democracy. That’s not going to happen immediately. But happen it must.