The Future of Democracy in the UK. Public Attitudes and Policy Responses.

Over the last three years, a Constitution Unit team has conducted detailed research into public attitudes to democracy in the UK. This has comprised two large-scale surveys of the UK population, conducted in summer 2021 and summer 2022, and the Citizens’ Assembly on Democracy in the UK, which met over six weekends in late 2021. Previous reports have set out the findings of each part of the project. This final report pulls these findings together, supplementing them with extensive new analysis. It also reflects on policy implications.

Chapter 1 examines perceptions of how democracy is performing in the UK at present. It finds high levels of dissatisfaction: most people want to see significant change. Both survey respondents and citizens’ assembly members felt inadequately represented in the corridors of power, and that politics lacks honesty and integrity. Confidence in politicians was especially low. Such views were shared widely across the population, though somewhat less so among those who voted Leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum or Conservative in the 2019 general election.

Chapter 2 looks at attitudes towards democracy in the round. The overwhelming majority of people in the UK support democracy – though for most this is contingent on democracy delivering effective government. At the time of the research, support for ‘strongman’ leadership was lower than in some other recent studies. Research participants said that democracy should be representative of the public and responsive to their wishes. They wanted honest, serious political discourse, and said that people should have the information to make their own decisions. They valued freedoms of thought and speech. There is some variation between more ‘populist’ and more ‘liberal’ conceptions of democracy, but the population as a whole is not polarised on these matters. Chapters 3–6 examine three central themes: standards in public life (Chapter 3); roles of core state institutions (Chapters 4 and 5); and the roles of the public (Chapter 6).

Chapter 3, on standards in public life, shows a strong desire for politicians to be honest, own up to mistakes, and act within the rules. Honesty is seen as requiring more than just not lying: people are very exercised by spin and dissembling too. Participants wanted independent regulators to be able to investigate allegations of wrongdoing. They thought that stronger action than at present is needed where wrongdoing is demonstrated. They rejected the view that holding politicians to account should be left solely to voters.

Chapter 4 focuses on government and parliament. People expect parliament to play a strong role in policy- making, as it represents everyone, rather than just those who voted for the governing party. Both survey respondents and citizens’ assembly members thought it should play a stronger role than at present, having greater control over its agenda and timetable, and scrutinising all changes to the law. They wanted MPs to be more responsive to and representative of the public at large. There was significant support for reforming the system by which MPs are elected. Respondents were divided on whether they wanted an elected, appointed, or mixed second chamber, but there was wide support for reforming the current system of appointments to the House of Lords. The principle of a neutral, permanent civil service was widely endorsed.

Chapter 5 turns to the law and courts. There was wide support for the rule of law and the protection of human rights – particularly core democratic rights such as the freedom of speech. Most people wanted the courts to have a role in protecting human rights, including by intervening where new laws might violate such rights. This applied across a wide range of claimed rights. Support for the courts’ role weakened somewhat when reference was made to the Human Rights Act, the European Convention on Human Rights, or the European Court of Human Rights. But most respondents still thought the courts should at least be able to send a law back to parliament for reconsideration. There was also wide agreement that the courts should adjudicate disputes over the powers of the executive.

Chapter 6 explores attitudes to the role of the public. Though there were strong expectations around responsiveness to public opinion, most survey respondents did not want to take part in politics more than they already did. Assembly members proposed steps to enable public participation, including better education, information provision, and media coverage. There was strong support for freedom of speech; views on freedoms of association and protest were somewhat more muted or mixed. Assembly members wanted a greater role for petitions. Views on referendums were more ambivalent. Members of the citizens’ assembly strongly endorsed greater use of such assemblies, though only to inform debate and advise elected representatives; survey respondents backed the same view more mutedly.

Chapter 7 considers whether people care about political processes, rather than just outcomes. Survey respondents said that the health of democracy in the UK mattered to them as much as issues such as housing, crime, and immigration, though less than the cost of living or the NHS.

Chapter 8 summarises the findings, places them in context, and reflects on implications for policy-makers. It focuses on three key themes: the need to uphold ethical standards in public life; the value of checks and balances; and ways of enabling effective public participation. - Fostering greater honesty in political discourse requires not just politicians and campaigners, but also those in the media, to reflect on their responsibilities. Regulatory processes could also be strengthened, and several proposals for this are already on the table. - Likewise, proposals exist to give MPs greater control over their agenda, improve legislative scrutiny, and reform appointments to the Lords. Any moves to weaken the BBC’s impartiality, the neutrality of the civil service, or the ability of the courts to check abuses would not find public favour. - Enabling effective and widespread public participation is hard. Areas for further consideration include improved education, better media coverage, and greater used of deliberative processes such as citizens’ assemblies.