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urn:uuid:bd56a31e-ed11-4dcc-be0e-27cf597a0183 03 15 9781909890473 00 EB E101 10 01 01 The UK's Changing Democracy The 2018 Democratic Audit 1 A01 Patrick Dunleavy 2 B01 Alice Park 3 B01 Ros Taylor 01 eng 00 520 03 12 1DBK 23 Democracy 10 POL007000 23 UK democracy 23 Government 12 JP 10 POL058000 23 UK politics 12 JPHC 10 POL000000 23 political parties 23 Political Science 23 devolution 12 JPHV 10 POL015000 23 UK politics 23 democratic audit 12 JPL 10 POL022000 23 government 01 06 03 00 The UK’s Changing Democracy presents a uniquely democratic perspective on all aspects of UK politics, at the centre in Westminster and Whitehall, and in all the devolved nations.The 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU marked a turning point in the UK’s political system. In the previous two decades, the country had undergone a series of democratic reforms, during which it seemed to evolve into a more typical European liberal democracy.The establishment of a Supreme Court, adoption of the Human Rights Act, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish devolution, proportional electoral systems, executive mayors and the growth in multi-party competition all marked profound changes to the British political tradition.Brexit may now bring some of these developments to a juddering halt. The UK’s previous ‘exceptionalism’ from European patterns looks certain to continue indefinitely. ‘Taking back control’ of regulations, trade, immigration and much more is the biggest change in UK governance for half a century. It has already produced enduring crises for the party system, Parliament and the core executive, with uniquely contested governance over critical issues, and a rapidly changing political landscape. Other recent trends are no less fast-moving, such as the revival of two-party dominance in England, the re-creation of some mass membership parties and the disruptive challenges of social media.In this context, an in-depth assessment of the quality of the UK’s democracy is essential. Each of the 2018 Democratic Audit’s 37 short chapters starts with clear criteria for what democracy requires in that part of the nation’s political life and outlines key recent developments before a SWOT analysis (of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) crystallises the current situation. A small number of core issues are then explored in more depth.Set against the global rise of debased semi-democracies, the book’s approach returns our focus firmly to the big issues around the quality and sustainability of the UK’s liberal democracy. 04 00 Preface Acknowledgements Contributors List of figures and tables 1. Auditing the UK’s changing democracy 1.1 The worsening context for liberal democracy 1.2 Evaluating UK democracy and the Democratic Audit’s choice of methods 1.3 The ambivalent legacies of the ‘British tradition’ 2. How democratic are the UK’s electoral systems? 2.1 The Westminster ‘plurality rule’ electoral system 2.2 The reformed electoral systems used in Britain’s devolved governments and England’s mayoral elections 2.3 The UK’s proportional electoral system: the single transferable vote (STV) 2.4 Are elections conducted with integrity, with sufficient turnout? 3. How democratic are the channels for political participation? 3.1 The political parties and party system 3.2 The interest group process 3.3 The media system 3.4 Social media and citizen vigilance 4. How democratic is the Westminster Parliament? 4.1 The House of Commons: control of government and citizen representation 4.2 The Commons’ two committee systems and scrutiny of government policy-making 4.3 Accountability of the security and intelligence services 4.4 How undemocratic is the House of Lords? 5. How democratic and effective is UK national government? 5.1 The basic constitutional law 5.2 The core executive and government 5.3 The civil service and public services management systems 5.4 How transparent and free from corruption is UK government? 5.5 In terms of Brexit 5.6 The basic structure of the devolution settlements 6. How democratic are the UK’s devolved government arrangements? 6.1 Scotland: devolved government and national politics 6.2 Scotland: local government and politics 6.3 Wales: devolved government and national politics 6.4 Wales: local government and politics 6.5 Northern Ireland: devolved government and politics 6.6 Northern Ireland: local government and politics 6.7 London: devolved government and politics at metropolitan level 6.8 London: government and politics in the boroughs 6.9 England: local government and politics 7. How far are equalities essential for liberal democracy secured? 7.1 Human rights and civil liberties 7.2 Gender equality 7.3 Equality and ethnic minorities 7.4 The rights of workers 7.5 Class disparities and social inequalities 8. Assessing democratic quality and the potential for democratic advance 8.1 Assessing democratic quality and renewing the potential for democratic advance 8.2 Counteracting democratic decay References Index LSE Press 01 LSE Press 04 01 20181101 02 WORLD 06 15 9781909890442 06 15 9781909890442 06 15 9781909890473 06 15 9781909890480 WORLD 09 LSE Press 20 01