Guy Aitchison (London, OK): The democratic left pressure group Compass has published the latest in its Programme for Renewal: Democracy and the Public Realm. Democracy, it notes, is in retreat under New Labour. Government centralisation, unaccountable power and attacks on our civil liberties are familiar causes, but the report also blames New Labour’s obsession with the market, its strategy of "It’s the economy stupid". Instead it offers a social-democratic view of what a modern democracy should be stressing "autonomy and self-management" over the consumer freedom that capitalism offers. The report proposes various measures for building this "participatory democracy". Alongside familiar proposals of more powers for parliament and the devolution of power to local government, it proposes a written constitution, a citizens’ debate over PR, and ''cultural'' changes, including the enhancing of public broadcasting and ''greater workplace democracy''. The timing of Compass’s report coincides with that of Ken Clarke’s Democracy Taskforce (which I reported on this week) and adds to the sense that reform is on the agenda. Although it makes for a lively read it probably stands less chance of making the translation to policy than Clarke’s-perhaps less idealistic-set of proposals. Creating "new symbols of democracy" and getting politicians to abandon "spin" for example, may be easier said than done...
OK readers may like to know that the Compass National Conference takes place this Saturday 9 June 2007 at Central Hall Westminster in London. It will host a number of major speakers and focus on shaping globalization towards social-democratic ideals.
