Reinventing Democracy

A radical solution for a contented, federal, Britain

David Kauders

The constitution matters to everyday life

We want better public services and rising living standards. To fix them we have to fix the underlying problems, which stem from extreme centralisation, patronage, and the state attitude that the people can be ignored most of the time.

Why do we have to vote for tribes making empty promises, or often, tactically against the worst option?

Scotland and Wales are utterly fed up with England.

The reasons for failure:

1. The governance system that emerged over three centuries ago cannot cope with the complex 21st century, now revealed by Brexit.
2. No channels for upward communication, inability to listen to the people.
3. Endless campaigns are permitted to let off steam, but are invariably ignored while conditions deteriorate. Example: the suffragettes took a century to gain the vote. We do not have a century to fix everything.
4. The entire premise of neoliberalism, which has resulted in people working harder and longer for less reward.

How to fix it all? A written constitution for a federal and regional UK:

Benefits of a federal UK with regional powers:

1. Power devolved to the lowest level, no more absolute power to force anything through a central parliament.
2. Tax raising and expenditure combined, needs mutual financial support instead of specific funds to buy off the latest complaints.
3. People more involved in our democracy, but this requires prohibition of character assassination.
4. People should vote for policies, not images. Needs a law that all communications be "fair, clear, and not misleading".
5. Reduced patronage, less scope for rip-off financial engineering, policy divergence becomes possible, resulting in a more contented people.

Table of contents

• REINVENTING DEMOCRACY