A proposal from the Electoral Reform Society Scotland

Background

With the advent of a new parliament in 1999 Scotland has taken the opportunity to develop its democratic processes and institutions so that it leads the way within the UK. Innovative processes adopted by the Parliament reflect the ambitions of open-ness, accessibility and transparency, notably the introduction of the Public Petitions Committee; the adoption of a more proportional voting system for Scottish Parliament elections; and family-friendly hours for Parliamentary Business. Further reform of local government elections in 2007 acknowledged that institutions should change to reflect social and political circumstances.

Now, with a remarkable SNP majority at Holyrood and a referendum on Scotland’s constitutional status expected before 2016, the environment is one of debate and question about the institutions and processes of state and government. This is against a background where information and the changing way it is mediated mean a rapidly shifting dynamics of power between citizen, state and sub-state actors.

For those of us interested in understanding how power is awarded, exercised and held to account in a manner most likely to create a good society this is a significant opportunity. It is an opportunity to engage with Scottish society to discuss what constitutes a ‘good democracy’. This should allow us to articulate some principles and practices about democracy that will be useful as devolution continues to develop. Some of these ideas and solutions may be applicable to other parts of the world where old democracies are faltering and where new democracies are emerging.

The role, functions and institutions of the democratic state need to be fit for purpose in a changing world. At the present time, the repercussions of the MPs expenses scandal, the Bank Bailout and the Media Crisis also pose big questions for democracy. In other parts of the world developments such as the rise of the technocrat and the claim of ‘post democracy’ arising from the economic crisis in some parts of Europe can be sharply contrasted with the Arab Spring and Russian Autumn. All of these events have something to tell us about democracy and the constitutional debate in Scotland should be informed by as much analysis and understanding as we can muster.

Much of the current debate around Scotland’s constitutional future is led by political parties, or those with a party interest. We want to create a non-partisan space where those with different views can debate and discuss and where political rhetoric can be challenged and unpicked.

Role of partners

The society is seeking partners that can contribute to the overall development and direction of the project and/or partner on specific elements of the programme of particular interest to them. We would like partners to contribute expertise, knowledge and guidance to assist with promotion and dissemination.

Proposal

The Electoral Reform Society in Scotland intends to organise a series of sequential seminars to debate issues of democracy within the substantially changing context in which Scots live.

Phase 1: Sovereignty of the People

Under this heading we primarily envisage discussing the accountability of the state and its representatives, the participation of the people in those processes of accountability and how to ensure the diversity of the population is represented. Essentially: How do we make this objective of ‘power in the hands of the people’ work in reality? The outcome aimed for would be suggestions for a system with genuine accountability.

1. Elections – How do we make elections better?
2. Intra-election accountability – Direct democracy, Referenda, Recall.
3. Participation and its flipside, Responsiveness¹
4. Representation as advocates or as representatives of shared experience?

Phase 2: Protecting the People Power- Who Owns the State?

The aim of this heading is to identify the sectors and habits that intervene in the genuine accountability of the state to the people as outlined in the previous discussion. The outcome aimed for, having considered the systems and mechanisms that provide countervailing power, would be suggestions as to how to prevent these interests usurping the accountable system arrived at above.

A suggested starting point would be:

1. Vested interests – corporations, lobbyists, the party machine (whips), TUs, civil servants
2. Media – Print and Broadcast
3. Information and Access – how does FoI and Social media change the relationship between the people and the state
4. Funding – party funding, state funding etc

Phase 3: Institutions of the State.

Given the results of the above strands of discussion, this third aspect seeks to debate how to effectively meet and enact those principles agreed. What institutions would be necessary to guarantee a ‘good state’ with appropriate and workable checks and balances? And, how do we codify such in a written constitution? The outcome aimed for would be an understanding of what institutions are necessary to manage a good democracy, what they look like and how they relate to each other to ensure sovereignty of the people.

This could include:

1. Design of the Parliament – how can it best hold the Executive to account?
2. Relationship between levels of government
3. Access to justice
4. Supra National structures
5. Is a constitution necessary? What should it include and exclude? Is it necessary for Scotland to become independent for a constitution to be introduced? This could include discussion of the Constitutional Commission’s draft Constitution² and the SNP’s ‘Constitution for a Free Scotland’³

Conclusion: What makes (and continues) a ‘good democracy’? What is the vision of a ‘good Scottish democracy’ in the 21^st century and how do we ensure its longevity as such.

Operation

The seminars will ‘feed into’ each other i.e. the discussions and conclusions of the first phase will be fed into the next one and the first two will feed into session three. This will allow ‘learning’ to travel through the whole process but also allow fresh thinking and different perspective and expertise to be applied at discreet phases.

Each set of seminars will be asked to answer a series of questions framed by ERS Scotland in consultation with partners and the chair. A scribe will make a verbatim record of the discussion. Observers will be welcome, eg students, researchers, interested parties.

The chair will then write up the discussion in the form of a paper for publication. They will also produce a short presentation on their conclusions and their questions as a challenge to the following session. (ie. The session on sovereignty of the people will summarise their discussion and also pose questions about how that sovereignty is being undermined by vested interests and ask the next session to examine the problems they have identified.) This presentation will be held in a public forum, enabling and encouraging discussion of the seminar’s findings.

Once the three phases are complete ERS Scotland will produce a summary paper that sets out the vision of a ‘Good Scottish Democracy’, Demo-Max, if you will.

Contact: Willie Sullivan: willie.sullivan@electoral-reform.org.uk or Juliet Swann: juliet.swann@electoral-reform.org.uk