Politics for the public

Any initiative that encourages debate about the state of politics and how we might make things better is to be welcomed.

And coming in an election year in which there is little on offer from the political class in the way of substantial change, POWER2010 offers a valuable opportunity to consider what has gone wrong in British politics.

It is particularly welcome because it is all too tempting to respond to the uninspiring character of the election campaign with a cynical shrug, and just ignore politicians as much as is possible.

Those of us who believe in democracy cannot afford to write off a whole general election as an irrelevance. In the absence of a viable alternative to parliamentary democracy, simply wishing 'a plague on all their houses' is at best an idle posture and at worst a rejection of democracy itself.

That doesn't mean we have to accept politics as it is, however.

The Institute of Ideas' pre-election public summit, The Battle for Politics, in London on 20 March, is all about setting an alternative political agenda.

Rather than naively making a virtue of political participation for its own sake, or cynically writing off the whole business of politics, we'll be discussing the questions that politicians prefer to avoid or obscure.

From taboo issues like immigration and welfare reform to rarely-criticised trends like the politics of behaviour and the increasing role of 'experts' in making policy, we'll put a premium on open and robust argument instead of the cowardly whispers, hints and unquestioned assumptions that too often pass for political debate.

So what of constitutional reform? We'll certainly be discussing the state of our democratic institutions, and involving representatives of POWER2010, but we won't be looking in detail at the kinds of reforms being proposed here.

That's not because they aren't important, though - there is plenty to agree and disagree with in the proposed pledges, and they are well worth discussing - and voting on.

The more different types of debate going on around politics the better. What's crucial, though, is the spirit in which such debates are conducted.

The expenses scandal has inspired many calls for change, but not all for the better.

It is important that the case for reform is not influenced by the anti-politics sentiment that has been strengthened over the past year, a contempt for our elected representatives that threatens democracy itself.

For me, then, the crucial factor in judging the proposed pledges is whether they bolster democratic accountability or curtail it in the name of 'cleaning up' politics. Any constitutional changes should give maximum power to the public and our elected representatives, and not to unelected bodies, frameworks, quangoes, ombudsmen and Ofwotsits.

Moreover, if we believe in representative democracy, we must treat our representatives with a degree of respect. To treat MPs as naughty schoolchildren, accountable to dorm matrons and self-appointed pencil monitors, is to express disrespect not just for politicians themselves, but for the people who elected them and to whom they are truly accountable.

Of course, a robust defence of representative democracy is not in itself enough to bring about the kind of political change we need. Politics is not simply about institutions, but about ideas and interests in wider society.

Initiatives like POWER2010 and The Battle for Politics can help foster the wider culture of debate and engagement that we need in order to bring about real change. In the process, we must not be afraid to oppose some reforms even as we campaign for others.

Dolan Cummings is an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Ideas