Peter Facey (London, Unlock Democracy): 2008 is set to be an important and busy year for democratic reformers, but it will also be a mixed one with some real opportunities, but also great dangers.This contrast is at its clearest in relation to our rights and freedoms: we have the real possibility of making progress on a proper Bill of Rights (which may come in January / February - though this, like all other dates given here, is merely guesswork); but at the same time we have the continued dangers of ID cards, the database state and government plans to extend detention without trial from an already too long 28 days to 42.
January should also see Labour keep its 2001 manifesto pledge to "review the experience of the new systems and the Jenkins report to assess whether changes might be made to the electoral system for the House of Commons" by publishing this review. Expectations are that the report will say that the new electoral systems have worked well but that change to electoral system for the House of Commons is effectively a political decision (something we all knew). Elections are about power and any change to the electoral system effectively challenges vested interests of the two main parties. What the Government says will not only affect the chances of electoral reform in the short term, but also what could happen in the event of a hung parliament after the next election. Though I do not expect Gordon Brown to call a referendum on the electoral system, it would be a good way to show he is a pluralist and a democrat and that he does actually mean something by his promises for a new politics.
Following the long running series of scandals about party funding and patronage, this year will provide us with the chance to finally put into allegations of political sleaze to rest by reforming the system - a white paper should arrive in the first half of this year. If political parties fail to cap donations and remove patronage from our political system, we will continue to have more scandals that not only undermine individual political parties, but also confidence in politics itself.
This summer will see two important events: one with a lot of noise and interest and the other I fear with a lot less. Firstly the ratification of the Reform Treaty (Treaty of Lisbon) by Parliament and the debate about whether it should be put to a referendum should come in May or June, and will be one of the big political set pieces of the year. The danger is that it will be all heat and very little light, but we may edge closer to a proper debate about Britain's place in Europe, about how in future we should manage our relationship with the European Union, and how and when citizens can be involved in decisions.
The second event is the Governments plan to hold a citizens summit on a proposed British statement of values, provisionally slated for July or August. If the Government can make the process work it will show that ordinary citizens can, through a deliberative process, help shape our constitutional framework. But if the Government fails to live up to its own rhetoric then the whole event will be seen as a public relations exercise, and will not only damage the attempt to build consensus about our shared values, but undermine the case for using participatory and deliberative processes to add to representative democracy.
This year should also see improvements to how parliament operates, with the Constitutional Reform Bill (between February and April) and the publication of the white paper on Lords Reform. The debate about devolution and the future shape of the United Kingdom will continue, with the Barnett Formula, West Lothian Question, and greater demands for more power to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all on the agenda. And as part of it the debate about how England is governed will heat up: my hope is that it does not disintegrate into an argument between those who believe in a national solution and those who want power to be exercised closer to people. This will all feed into the wider debate about a written constitution and the need for a constitutional convention to deliver comprehensive reform.
What is clear is that democratic and constitutional reform is now firmly on the political agenda and will remain there until well after the next election. There is now a huge job for those of us who want to see our rights protected, power decentralised, those who take decisions on our behalf made accountable and democracy invigorated. We must make the most of the opportunities ahead.
