VIC ROWLANDS. Reclaiming democracy

Apr 16, 2018

Democracy across the world is under siege and facing its biggest challenge. Despite different interpretations of democracy in terms of process, – voting age, optional or compulsory, the new world is creating fundamental strains which threaten at least its current status, if not viability.

The system has found it difficult to evolve organically and stay relevant. and increasingly has had to contend with strategies consistently eroding the philosophical base and the spirit on which it was founded.

The system and the politics of means justifying ends has increasingly frustrated individuals and groups. The rise of populism, the growth of single issue groups and extreme factions within the major parties has spawned changes fracturing the (largely) two party construct of parliament. Concessions made to small parties or individuals not related to the legislation being negotiated is often the antithesis of democracy. Outside parliament the increasing power and influence of lobbyists has compounded the difficulties.

While many of these have existed to a degree in the past the advent of the communication revolution and particularly social media, has created a perfect storm. What now seems like an orderly past where complex issues could be worked through the community and parliament, especially if accompanied by strong leadership, now become regularly paralysed. The news cycle is getting shorter, and the twenty four hour cycle has morphed into an almost instant real time cycle in places like Trump’s America.

The major problem this has created is that while information can be disseminated at increasingly rapid speed, the time for people to take in, assimilate and comprehend the detail has remained the same. This gives the information disseminated, sometimes not true and sometimes deliberately false, a powerful capacity to cause damage and misunderstanding. It is said that addresses to the National Press Club for example are regularly sabotaged or undermined across social media and news outlets before the address has even been completed.

All this has conspired to make legislation in parliament much easier to oppose and obstruct than to enact. Politicians are feeling the brunt of public wrath, some of it because of their inability to escape the bubble of their existence or the constraints on them to escape it, but some also because the big political game seems always in play. Whatever it takes.

Politicians are by and large decent people who go into politics with public service at the front of their intentions. Most of them, particularly nationally, work hard with long hours of travel and dislocation from their families. A change in approach may be resisted by them but also has a chance to be of considerable help to them, both in enabling legislation and in doing so reducing the public disdain and rancour with which they are now often regarded. It is true that much legislation still passes, often co-operatively, through the work of joint parliamentary committees, but this is lost in the shadow of the odious confrontation and filibustering in parliament on contentious issues which is basically what the public sees, and which has alienated them so much.

Assumptions about what influences the way people vote are changing. They have probably never  been as simple as assumed, but the slogan argument, doorstop message or tweet should not be the vehicle to persuade the public on major complex issues. The data from the Australian Election Study run by the Australian National University and reviewed by by Lachlan Harris and Andrew Charlton, (Age 4/3) shows the polarisation of Australian politics over the last twenty years with voters moving in significant numbers from the moderate centre, left and right to the extremes, and in doing so compounding the difficulty in finding consensus ground on policy.

It’s time to reclaim democracy.

Re-engaging with the people

This is a suggestion for a process which would be carried out by a University or another qualified independent organisation where information would be gathered from across the country and from which up to four  questions or issues which have the potential to attract majority voter support across the electorate would be identified and voters asked to respond “Yes” or “No” to them on a separate sheet on election day. No matter what side won government any question or statement receiving 55%+ support would be be expected to be followed up by an all party committee developing enabling legislation in relation to that issue, or a process to act as a precursor leading to legislation.

It could look like this.

  1. In the year before the election the information would be circulated outlining the process and invite media outlets to support it by providing relevant programs and information.
  2. Comprehensive polling across the country would be carried out using any means the commission believes will validly provide the information needed. The survey would ask voters for the three most important national issues needing action facing Australia, and one additional issue from a personal perspective.
  3. Year 12 students across the country (or a significant sample of them) would be asked to respond to the survey on a specified day, (“Democracy Day -Your Country, Your Future”) either on line or by mail. Engaging with young people is a critical part of any revival of democracy. For this cohort for most of their lives the democratic process has modelled dysfunction.
  4. A conference, (“Supporting Democracy”) would be held in Canberra composed of representatives from national umbrella groups,( for example ACTU, Business Council, Farmers Federation), plus a panel of people with expert knowledge able to assist in the consideration of the data gathered, and identify from the data up to three areas warranting a question for the electorate to respond to at the next election. The conference could add one further question or issue it believes needs national attention but which hasn’t been raised.
  5. A cross party panel drawn from the federal parliament would formulate a question for each issue recommended by the Supporting Democracy conference.The Supporting Democracy Conference and the cross party panel must have at least 45% men and women.
  6. If any of the questions receive 55%+ support on election day they would be referred to the new government for action where a cross party sub committee either develops legislation responding to the issue or a process to enable this to happen.

In the end the government will decide the fate of the process. No consequences for failing to act should be needed. A government wilfully ignoring the responses from such a substantial base would be viewed very negatively by the electorate. In addition the government could act on any issue emerging as part of the process. In fact this is what a strong leader would do. The country needs a leader with the capacity to articulate a future vision for the country and the respect, ability and courage to take the people with them.

This process has the capacity to help resolve important issues in ways the system now obstructs or limits options. Politicians should recognise that they have helped bring this situation to bear.

Examples like Marriage Equality, which had 55%+ public support for more than a decade, still needed parliament to be dragged kicking and screaming,(and expensively), to act on it.

The value in this would come from the public actively engaging in the process. If they choose not to be involved or interested then a chance to revive democratic participation would be lost. This would further encourage extremism and populism and further threaten democracy. We need to believe that given genuine trust people will take the responsibility seriously and allow politicians the opportunity to rebuild some faith in the system and the people.

What if, for example, the Federal Parliament had reliable information available to it on these questions now? How might it alter political behaviour and leadership?

  1. Australia should consider the peaceful use of Nuclear energy.
  2. Australia should have a four year fixed term government.
  3. Australian law must be the supreme law in the country.
  4. Indigenous Australian should be recognised in the constitution.
  5. The government must not commit troops to war without the endorsement of the Parliament.
  6. Indigenous Australians should be given a voice to Parliament.
  7. Federal members of Parliament can be dual citizens.
  8. Australia should introduce universal pre school education.
  9. The voting age in Australia should lowered to 17.
  10. Australia should become a Republic.

Vic Rowlands is a former teacher and school principal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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