This four-part mini-series follows on from 2020’s series on the constitution and independence, taking a more in-depth look at the political and democratic elements.
This part will be mainly focused on democracy as a concept – the principle that political power comes from the consent of the public.
Democracy Box
The Democracy Box – a youth project backed by the Future Generations Commissioner, Welsh Government and Electoral Commission – published a report on democracy in Wales and improving engagement with young people in November 2023 (pdf).
Democracy Box identified four key problems:
- The Ivory Tower Problem: Decision-makers, journalists and educators not taking political education seriously enough or downplaying its necessity.
- The Managed Democracy Problem: The population not being able to influence decision-making in the period between elections, with political parties being reluctant to address it out of self-interest.
- The Media Problem: Issues around trusted news sources and politics are only explained in and around “newsworthy” events like elections.
- Status of Creatives Problem: Not valuing what creative arts bring to the table in terms of critical thinking and expression.
The core recommendation – underpinning everything else – was establishing local and online easy-to-find “Talking Shop” hubs. These hubs would use easy-to-understand language, form part of a single “Democracy Box” inspired public information campaign and promote creative thinking and debate. Other, more specific, recommendations included:
- Year-round democratic education from the age of 7 onwards in collaboration with the Electoral Commission and BBC.
- Democratic education in schools (for 7-16 year olds) should use the Democracy Box model (see a sample here – pdf).
- The Electoral Commission should be promoted as “the number one source” of non-partisan/impartial democratic information.
- Reform of how local councils, the Senedd etc. are scrutinised by committees, including more direct public participation in decision-making and things like citizens’ assemblies.
- Factual historical and ideological information about the UK’s political parties should be available all year round (Part II).
The McAllister-Williams Commission
The Constitutional Commission: A Soft Reboot
The Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales - the latest installment in the Welsh Constitutional Universe franchise -...
Aside from the debate around the Senedd’s powers, independence etc. the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales made its own recommendations on democracy more generally.
The core recommendation was around “democratic innovation”.
The Commission echoed what the Democracy Box report said about opening up decision-making to more people through citizens’ assemblies, crowdsourcing and giving the public more direct say in policies through things like citizens initiatives/ballots (as in Switzerland).
The Commission also suggested more widespread use of participatory budgeting – letting the public make decisions on how public money is spent. This could be as extensive as setting an entire budget, or more local, such as via a ring-fenced community fund (or alike).
In Devil’s Advocate: Independence would hand Wales to “the crachach” I suggested a new charter for public consultations. If a final decision goes against the findings of a public consultation, there should be a duty on the body that launched the consultation to justify why they’re going against the wishes of the public. There should also be a mechanism to void consultations that ask loaded/leaning questions that support a particular course of action.
Improving democratic education
A lot of solid recommendations have come out of the Democracy Box project and the McAllister-Williams Commission.
The main issue I have is that while democratic/citizenship education in schools was mentioned in both reports, what was missing was what precisely that means in practice. What skills and knowledge need to be taught and to what depth?
I worry that if “political education” was introduced in Wales it would end up being restricted to stuff like “how to vote”, “who does what”, “how can I get involved” and politicians going into schools to use children as window dressing.
To make a lasting generational difference it has to be about the quality of democracy over increasing turnout. This could include topics such as:
- The basics of the constitution.
- How things are paid for (tax and spending, differences between revenue and capital).
- Why politicians lie.
- The reasons why people do and don’t vote.
- Cause & effect: real life/practical examples of why politics matters.
- How certain topical issues are being debated, reported and addressed.
- What an elected representative does.
- Being able to properly identify misinformation and fake news (Finland is reportedly leading the way on this).
- Common “negative” political tactics (whataboutery, dog whistling etc.) and why they’re used.
- How to work out for yourself whether politicians’ promises can be delivered.
