Local referendums 'need a rethink'

The local government establishment has reacted to proposals for
democracy reform like hens which have noticed that the fox has started
to dig a tunnel under their fence.

A closer look at how citizen-led democracy works in practice would help
to allay concerns of local politicians.

For instance:

Revolution is NOT being proposed. What has been suggested is that
elements of direct democracy should be introduced, complementing the
indirect (representative) democracy which we already have.

Electorates do NOT want to take over the running of ALL public affairs
-- for that we appoint, by election, councillors and mayors.

We do want the job to be well done, which leads to a desire to have more
say about government, planning etc. in the periods between elections --
this has been repeatedly confirmed in social surveys.

People do NOT want to be fobbed off with more petitions, consultations
or "citizens' juries". They do want to be able to take back control of
some issues, either by veto of council proposals or using the right to
make proposals about policy.

The NLGN (New Local Government Network ) suggestion of "community
proposal" instead of more democracy resembles a glorified petition (a
right which we already have). The council is not obliged to act on the
proposal and no ballot of the electorate must be held.

Sincerely,
(Dr.) Michael Macpherson

I&R ~ GB Citizens' Initiative and Referendum
http://www.iniref.org/
http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/i-and-r.gb sign up for reform

IN REPLY TO:

Local referendums 'need a rethink'
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id593

Tory proposals to introduce local referendums could land councils with
"unmanageable" financial commitments, a report from the New Local
Government Network has warned, adding that the plans could also
undermine the role of locally elected government and dilute the rights
of minority groups.

Under the Conservatives' proposals, people would be allowed to hold a
referendum on any local issue if five per cent of the local population
signed a petition in favour of it within six months. The NLGN has
accepted that this could lead to higher voter turnout and more public
engagement but it has several concerns. These relate to the quality of
decisions that are made and the likelihood that the referendums would
produce "reactionary rather than progressive results".

There is also the possibility of deferred referendums – or 'deferendums'
as they are being called – delaying decisions by months or even years.
And there is a chance that wealthy interest groups could unfairly
influence policy by using the weight of their financial resources to
collect the signatures needed to get issues to the referendum stage.

The NLGN has suggested its own 'Community Proposal' model which it said
would obligate elected representatives to engage with the proposal being
put to them and make voting mandatory rather than optional. This would
give the Community Proposal the status needed in the public's perception
to encourage engagement and restore the link between citizens and
elected representatives.

Author of the NLGN report Tom Symons said: "The appetite for democratic
renewal has been growing for decades with calls for greater
transparency, accountability and redistribution of power towards the
public. However, direct referendums do not resolve many of the problems
inherent with 'direct democracy'. Instead, a Community Proposal, based
on the principles of deliberative democracy, would represent a means of
increasing public participation and engagement and give citizens the
power to set the agenda at a full council meeting."
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