This is a response to Staurt Weir's post on the Hansard Society's Audit of Political Engagement.
Alex Brazier (London, Hansard Society): Stuart Weir asserts that the Hansard Society's recently published Audit of Political Engagement ‘asked little of meaning'. While the primary focus of the annual Audit is on monitoring political engagement, this year's Audit included a one-off snapshot of the public's views on Britain's constitutional arrangements. We believe that asking people about their knowledge of, satisfaction with and priorities for change vis-à-vis the country's constitutional arrangements has a great deal of value and meaning.
We do not accept that just because most people have little knowledge of the constitution (an important if not surprising Audit finding), there is no value in measuring their satisfaction in this area.
Nor do we accept that there is only value in surveying the views of people who claim to have knowledge of the issues. This underplays the significance of the opinions of those who, by their own assessment, are relatively uninformed. Whether the public fully understand something or not, they can and will hold opinions on it - and those views are vital in a democracy.
The Audit found that when it came to satisfaction with Britain's constitutional arrangements, the public have no overwhelming desire for change on any individual issue, and no clear priority for change overall. These findings may stem from an underlying lack of knowledge or the fact that most members of the public have not undertaken any detailed exposition of the arguments, but that is the reality of the situation.
That makes these findings both valuable and meaningful, especially at a time when the government is seeking to rally public support on issues of constitutional renewal. They point to the obvious need for much greater education and information on the subject and real efforts by government to engage both the media and the public directly with basic information and explanation on what it hopes to achieve in this area and why.
Those of us committed to constitutional renewal may not always like the results, and wish that the public as a whole had greater knowledge and interest, but it is necessary to understand the context in which we find ourselves.
