News update: Democratic Audit has joined forces with six other organisations in support of the recommendations of the Wright Committee on Reform of the House of Commons. Together with the Hansard Society, the Constitution Unit, Unlock Democracy, the Electoral Reform Society, the Better Government Initiative and Power2010, we have written an open letter to the Leader of the House of Commons, Harriet Harman, to express our serious concerns that the reforms may not be adopted before the General Election. To read the letter, please click here. To read our press release, please click here.

Democratic Audit is co-organising and co-sponsoring the 2010 Eleanor Rathbone Public Lecture Series on ‘Democracy, Citizenship and Social Justice’. For more details, please click here.

‘Vote on the options to clean-up Parliament’, blog, 15 January

Left Foot Forward has posted a guest blog by Democratic Audit’s Director, Stuart Wilks-Heeg on the surprising, yet rational, outcomes of the Power2010 deliberative poll.

‘The X-Factor double-crossing democracy’, Parliamentary Brief, January 2010

Stuart Wilks-Heeg’s article on the dangers of electoral modernisation for our democracy appears in this month’s edition of Parliamentary Brief.

Referendums in the UK’s Constitutional Experience – House of Lords Constitution Committee Submission, January 2010

Democratic Audit has submitted evidence to the House of Lords Constitution Committee Inquiry into the use of Referenda in the UK. It argues that are fundamental tensions between the use of the referendum and the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty on which the UK’s system of parliamentary democracy is notionally still based.

'Parliamentary reforms worth fighting for', blog, 27 November

A new blog has been posted by Dr. Andrew Blick, Senior Research Fellow, Democratic Audit, on the report published this week by the Select Committee on the Reform of the House of Commons. It argues that, if implemented, its recommendations will produce a significant and valuable change in the way Parliament operates.

‘The Unspoken Constitution’

Democratic Audit’s pamphlet, The Unspoken Constitution was published on Monday 12th October - the day when MPs and Peers returned to Parliament after the summer recess. For more details, and to download the pamphlet, please click here.

Evidence Submissions

Local and London democracy - Committee on Standards in Public Life Evidence Submission, June 2009

Democratic Audit has submittted evidence to the Committee on Standards in Public Life inquiry into 'Local Leadership and Public Trust: Openness and Accountability in Local and London Government'.

The inquiry has been temporarily postponed so that the Committee can concentrate on its inquiry into MPs' expenses.

Click here to download.

The Cabinet Office and UK Democracy - Evidence Submission, May 2009

Democratic Audit has submitted, in conjunction with Prof. George Jones, evidence to the House of Lords Constitution Committee Inquiry into the Cabinet Office. It argues that recent institutional changes at the centre of government have served to undermine the principle of collective Cabinet government, raising serious questions about the effectiveness of government and how it may be made subject to democratic accountability.

Click here to download.

Report archive

Democratic Audit has published in recent years a number of reports which continue to have relevance in the light of recent renewed impetus for the constitutional reform movement, with all three main parties committed in theory to substantial change. They include:

'What are European Elections For?': new Democratic Audit report, 3 June

This report was published on the eve of the 4th June European Parliament elections. It considers the continued existence of a democratic deficit in the EU; the possibility of small parties including the BNP making gains; and what a presence in the European Parliament means for small parties.

For the executive summary, click here. Full the full report, click here. For the statistical appendix including vote projections, click here.

'What are local elections For?': a Democratic Audit review, 4 June

This review of the democratic qualities of local elections was published on the day of the 2009 local elections. Using the established Democratic Audit criteria, it highlights ten specific problems with English local elections and makes the case for urgent, and radical, reforms to revitalise local democracy.

To download the review, click here.

Power and Participation in Modern Britain - New Report, February 2008

How are decisions really made in the UK, and by whom? In the light of the government's Governance programme for democratic reform, an understanding of who wields power and who participates in political processes is more important than ever. Democratic Audit publishes today the findings of its detailed overview of the landscape. It finds some cause for optimism, for instance an upsurge of popular campaigning, some of it web-based. But there remain huge and growing power divides, with members of underprivileged social and economic groups unable to make their voices heard by the overcentralised UK state.

Click here to download.

Hard-copies can be obtained by sending a £12.50 cheque payable to 'Democratic Audit' to Democratic Audit, Denmore Lodge, Brunswick Gardens, Cambridge, CB5 8DQ. 

A World of Difference: Parliamentary oversight of external policy condemned. 17/12/07: Democratic Audit, One World Trust and Federal Trust publish today 'A World of Difference', a report condemning the ineffectiveness of Parliament in overseeing foreign policy during the 2006-7 session; and making reform proposals. Read our press release or download report here.

Here are summaries of key Audit research on urgent democratic issues in the UK:

1. The government's 'tough' counter terrorism laws, practice and rhetoric will encourage and assist 'home-grown' terrorism.
   
   
2. Foreign and EU policy has profound effects on everyday life in the UK but is beyond democratic control.
   
   
3. Are we on the brink of reforms to make going to war subject to some parliamentary control?
   
   
4. The British National Party is stronger than you may think.

1. Social and economic well-being and confidence are essential to an inclusive democracy. We argue that Britain requires enforceable economic, social and cultural rights for everyone in an increasingly divided and unequal society.
   
   
2. Our reviews of democracy and political freedom in the UK, including our major study, 'Democracy under Blair' and two studies of the previous Conservative regime. Our findings are that the Labour government was making limited advances towards improving British democracy up to 2001, but since then it has regressed badly, especially with the unconstitutional and manipulative handling of the decision to invade Iraq.
   
   
3. Foreign, or external, policies deeply affect the everyday lives of the British people, but the public, and even MPs, are largely powerless spectators of government foreign policy-making. We reveal the pre-democratic powers that the then Prime Minister used to go to war and to make the UK Bush's closest ally.
   
   
4. What are the views of the British public on issues of democracy, rights and freedoms? Democratic Audit has collaborated with the Joseph Rowntree Reform trust on the 'State of the Nation' series of polls since 1992.
   
   
5. ManifestoWatch: What pledges did New Labour make on democratic issues in its election manifesto? What pledges did all the other parties make? Read the full summary of all their proposals in our feature, Manifesto Watch.

1. The deficiencies of the Freedom of Information regime.
   
   
2. Reform of the House of Lords has dragged on inconclusively for years, largely because the previous Prime Minister obstructed all attempts to make the second chamber either fully or mostly elected, and not a largely appointed chamber. But now reform is promised.
   
   
3. Electoral reform may be on the agenda if there is a hung Parliament after the next election. The danger is that Labour might insist on an electoral system that is even more disproportionate than first-past-the-post. On the eve of elections under the proportionate AMS system in Scotland and Wales, we give some background analysis.
   
   
4. Democratic Audit led the way in revealing and analysing the spread of the quango state and its lack of accountability, even to ministers. Read our analysis here.