Democracy for 21st Century People

It is often said that we live in a democracy. In fact we are described as

subjects of our Queen rather than citizens, and the system of government is
described as a constitutional monarchy.

However, we don’t have a formal written constitution as it is simply the sum of

the laws and regulations of the country and the monarchy has no real power
other than a right of veto on Acts of Parliament, which, if ever used, would be
swiftly terminated.

The original Greek idea of Direct Democracy had everyone (unless they were
slaves, women, etc.) vote for everything. As usual, the implementation does
not reach the ideal, but it is a lot better than our Representative democracy
where we have to select a person for 5 years who hopefully will work to
implement the things we want.

In practice our government specialises in implementing the things we don’t

want, like Poll Tax, because their agenda is not the same as ours. Politicians
want power (remember the saying that if voting changed anything it would be
banned?) and their main concern is to retain it. Even where they seem to be
doing what we would like as with Robin Cook’s ‘ethical dimension to foreign
policy’, the outcome simply underlines the fact that a dimension can be very
small or even imaginary.

So, because we are now in the 21st century and are a sophisticated and
mature society (well, for the sake of argument, just humour me), lets consider
updating our system of election to try and rediscover some original ideals with
up-to-date technology. And, hopefully, to re-engage those people self-
disenfranchised by disillusionment as well as those who vanished off the
electoral role to avoid the Poll Tax.

Now, one is never going to please everybody, and the first requirement of my
proposal is an ID system. But rather than muddy the water with ideas of
promoting the War on Terror, I would use the existing National Insurance
system. Clean the database of everyone who is dead (another limitation of
democracy – the dead are not allowed to vote!), expunge all duplications and
dubious entries (long overdue, I’ll bet) and ensure that everyone of 18 years
and above who is a UK citizen (not a subject) has an NI number.

Once the database is right, you can then allocate a password/code which the
holder can then change to suit their personal taste/memory and not a 4-digit
number either – let them use words, names, dates, etc. Notice no card or
biometrics at this stage!

Now, the technical bit: It will not have escaped your notice that there are
‘Chip & Pin’ terminals everywhere. These can be your voting booths. Just
key in your NI number and passcode and then vote. So, you’re away from
home? Just go to the nearest shop! You can’t get out? Well, use your
telephone (land line or mobile). You’re on holiday or business abroad? Just
use the phone.

Ken Grayling Page 1 8/3/2009

Democracy for 21st Century People
Now, here is where it gets interesting. The key is in the word vote. Vote for
(or against) everything, not for a person who can then ignore you
unchallengeably for the next 5 years. Come on, it’s not that radical, they do it
for Big Brother!

The role of elected politicians would be, as now, to dream up ways of

improving matters. They would then submit the resulting Bill not to such
historical relics as the Lords or The Queen but to the people. Government of
the people, by the people, for the people made fact, at last. And, of course,
this must apply to the European Union as well, so no more grandiose
schemes such as a Constitution that not even committed Europeans such as
the French or the Dutch could swallow.

Checks and balances? Well, the most effective would be a mechanism to

advise if your vote has already been used (fraud). This would be discovered
by the system not accepting your genuine attempt to vote. The system would
then allow you to challenge and delete whatever the fraudster had done and
trigger an automatic investigation (like where or by what means the fraudulent
vote had been cast). Perhaps the use of back-up information such as
mother’s maiden name or first school as already is the practice in on-line
banking.

Use of biometrics would enhance the security of the system, once these
technologies can be demonstrated to be reliable.

And the secret ballot – difficult to guarantee if you’re using the phone, but then
postal voting isn’t secure, either. And there will always be some who can’t get
to a ‘polling station’. Maybe the answer is to strictly limit phone voting to
those bed-ridden, not those who can’t be bothered to step outdoors.

So, let’s have a debate about this – I’m keen to hear from anyone who is
dissatisfied with the present system of electoral representation. And let’s
make a fuss – because that’s what gets politicians interested.

Kenarf@aol.com

Ken Grayling
Miacre
Church Road
Tharston
Norfolk
NR15 2YG

Ken Grayling Page 2 8/3/2009