Are the Ideals of Policymaking in the UK Presenting a Possible Democratic Deficit?
We are ‘deemed lucky to live in a parliamentary, democratic state.’ (Ekins , 2017). Where we are supposedly seeing regular elections with flourishing political pluralism, aiding the hands of the UK’s citizens by our parliament. Within our democratic state, we assume politicians that are voted in by their constituency, are delivering policies applicable for their constituency. Within, the last few decades this has not been supported, as policymaking in the UK is no longer ‘evidence-based policymaking’. (Cairney, 2018). Allowing parliament to no longer be representative of the state we live in. The deficit is installed by the unelected chamber in our bicameral system, known as the House of Lords adding their opinion onto policy, passing through the legislative system. Also, the sentiment of our Prime Minster (PM), becoming more presidential as policymaking has become less state centred and more focused on foreign policy.
Lack of Elections
Addressing the lack of elections which has occurred in recent years, has beckoned as a catalyst for the deficit in Westminster’s policymaking. Since the Brexit Referendum, the UK has witnessed an immense turnover of five different PM’s. Only three of these leaders. having held an election, since 2019. Currently, we are under the unelected leader Rishi Sunak, who is pushing an unpopular policy through Westminster, relating to the ‘Rwanda immigration bill’. This bill has been deemed to go against human rights and will break international law. This Rwanda bill has faced opposition from several MPs in the Commons and the Judiciary. However, the bill is still alive and currently passing through the commons swiftly by Sunak. Without majority support from the public or Parliament. However, generally in the UK we do not directly elect our PM’s the party does. Nonetheless, a general election should have been held to reflect changing public opinion on the turnover of new leadership. Currently ‘Rishi Sunak has not seen a single vote to sustain his leadership role from the party or public.’ Granting, Sunak the power to make policy for the UK without endorsement from either party or public.
The House of Lords
The unelected House of Lords has also been a continuous subject regarding democratic legitimacy within policymaking in the UK. which previously saw Tony Blair pushing for housing reform, as Labour faced hardships to pass their policies. As the unelected Lords were blocking legislation. Demonstrating, the chamber of the bicameral system, to be participating in UK policymaking with no public endorsement. As many members of the House of Lords, are being appointed by the ‘PM’s traditional powers of patronage, which are not endorsed or reflective of constituencies wishes either.’ (Dorey, 2023). Although ‘Kier Starmer has recently voiced for wanting a second elected chamber,’ (Dorey, 2023). However, ‘many in the House of Commons fear having a second chamber that holds equal democratisation.’ (Dorey, 2023). Leading to less endorsement for future reform. This is not reflective of the public, as according to UCL, research has shown that 72% of the public supports an independent body or reform to the House of Lords, to decrease the deficit.
Prime Minister or President
Finally, in recent years we have witnessed PMs dominating both, the executive, and the legislature. The PM has been presenting themself as having a presidential focus, through different political crises. Witnessed from the War in Iraq to Brexit and Covid, centralising policymaking to fall to the PM. Tony Blair to now Rishi Sunak, ‘PMs are using less of their executive for support but commanding them’. (Heffernan, 2003). While also “marginalising groups to pursue a top-down style of policymaking.” (Richardson, 2018). ‘Blair was referred to as exerting strong leadership, managing, and exploiting his institutional environment. During Blair’s time as PM, as he centralised his power and decision-making’. (Dobson et al, 2023).Highlighting PM;s domination by their actions, during the War in Iraq and now Sunak’s Rwanda bill. Although, PM’s must present themselves with a united executive, this is enshrined by the “doctrine of collective responsibility” (Brady and Catterall, 1997). Which is aiding the democratic deficit in UK policymaking. As, MPs are to adhere to the PM’s policy or resign.
Overall, there are mechanisms trying to ensure that policymaking in the UK is as democratic as it can be. Unfortunately, they have been diminishing overtime. As PMs are now solidifying their position of power with a lot of policy being centred on dominating foreign policy, preventing parliamentary sovereignty. The Lords being unelected policymakers, are installing a notable democratic deficit in policymaking. Without reform in parliament, the deficit will be relevant in policymaking.
Reference list
Brady, C. and Catterall, P. (1997). Managing the Core Executive. Public Administration, 75(3), pp.509–529. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9299.00072.
Cairney, P. (2018). The UK Government’s Imaginative Use of Evidence to Make Policy. British Politics, 14(1), pp.1–22.
Crace, J. (2023). The Observer view on the Conservatives: Rishi Sunak has no purpose: it’s time to call an election. The Observer. [online] 10 Dec. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/10/observer-view-on-conservatives-rishi-sunak-has-no-purpose-time-to-call-an-election [Accessed 13 Feb. 2024].
Dobson, H., Heppell, T., & Polanco Leal, P. (2023). Understanding prime ministerial leadership in the United Kingdom and Japan in the 21st century: Introduction to a special issue. Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, 8(1), 5-17. https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911221135298
Dorey, P. (2023). Elected or Selected? The Continuing Constitutional Conundrum of House of Lords Reform. The Political Quarterly, 94(3), pp.402–411. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13298.
Ekins , R. (2017). Restoring Parliamentary Democracy . Cardozo Law Review , 39(1), p.997.
Elgot, J., Walker, P. and Mason, R. (2022). New Tory leader Rishi Sunak says party facing ‘existential threat’. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/24/sunak-poised-become-uk-pm-mordaunt-johnson-withdraw [Accessed 26 Oct. 2022].
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Heffernan, R. (2003). Prime Ministerial Predominance? Core Executive Politics in the UK. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 5(3), 347-372. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-856X.00110
International, A. (2024). Joint Civil Society Statement on the Rwanda Bill. [online] www.amnesty.org.uk. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/joint-civil-society-statement-rwanda-bill [Accessed 13 Feb. 2024].
Parliament, U. (2024). Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) bill to undergo Lords line by line scrutiny. UK Parliament . [online] Feb. Available at: https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2024/february-2024/ [Accessed 13 Feb. 2024].
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UCL (2022). Majority of public support House of Lords appointments reform. [online] The Constitution Unit. Available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/news/2022/oct/majority-public-support-house-lords-appointments-reform.
I found this blog post intriguing in how it discussed policymaking becoming less constituent focused and instead more international, even how policymaking has become almost unopposable. For example the Rwanda bill that was mentioned, how despite party pushback and public pushback the bill is still moving forward. This public reaction is shown again in the second part of the post that highlights public will for reform to the house of lords. The final part clearly shows how dominating the Prime minister has become in policy making and overall highlights the evolution away from local issues and how this is causing is sues within our democracy. I woulde liked some pictures 🙂
The introduction of this article is concise and engaging which clearly states intention for the rest of the piece. The discussion about the lack of elections is extremely relevant and addresses the worrying lack of democratic practices in the United Kingdom, highlighted by the lack of elections which do not allow space for citizens to express their opinions through voting and therefore arguably repress the views of the public by blocking an outlet for such opinions. The author reflects on the arguably dwindling role of the House of Lords and supports their arguments with recent examples expressing the public’s wishes for reform and the increasingly presidential role of the Prime Minister and links these back to a decline in democracy in UK politics.
Through the concise introduction, the author has immediately established the topic of the blog. In addition to this, the blog is well structured and engages with evidence to support its argument, and effectively makes use of URLs to further expand on points. I particularly liked the conclusive argument, that whilst there are mechanisms to ensure that policymaking is democratic, those mechanisms have diminished overtime. This point successfully solidifies the author’s argument that there needs to be a reform for policy making, in order to ensure that the UK stays democratic. The only additional factor needed is images to further engage readers.
The author makes a compelling argument surrounding the decline of democratic policymaking within the UK. The most notable explanations of this argument is the evolution of Prime Minister, the lack of recent elections to dictate positions in government, and the legitimacy of the HOL. The author has highlighted how policymaking has taken a turn from mostly centralised policy within the UK, to being much more dominated by foreign policy.
While this has truthfully seen a dramatic rise since the early 2000s under the leadership of Tony Blair, there has been a repeating eb and flow of this pattern throughout the last 100 years of British politics. This has typically depended on the state of global affairs, and how foreign policy dictates how domestic policy operates i.e., does a specific conflict in a foreign state, implicate how trade operates and goods enter the UK? Does this cause inflation and impact wider aspects of domestic affairs e.g., the war in Russia and Ukraine and its’ implications on oil prices.
However, the author has highlighted how in this rise of foreign policy, there has been an evolution of the prime ministerial role, to an almost presidential level focus in policy making. This has been highlighted in response to concerns regarding the lack of support that has provided Rishi Sunak with his role of Prime Minister, without a general election being called in regard to continuous shifting power in leadership. The author rightfully highlights this fact that when compared with Sunak’s Rwandan policy bill, it becomes most concerning that the PM has not been acting with the support of the british public, suggesting undemocratic policymaking.
Overall, the author makes a compelling and interesting argument surrounding recent criticisms of policymaking in the UK. While this pattern of policy making has been seen before in the UK Democracy on separate occasions, when occurring in tandem the author’s argument is very persuasive.
This is a very compelling blog post on the topic of the current state of the UK democracy. the post discusses the recent shift in the balance of power within the UK and the post seeks to raise the question of, just how democratic the UK is now? As stated in this piece, the lack of elections in the UK does showcase a real issue in regard to the current prime minister of the nation being an unelected leader that is currently pushing through policies that are not viewed entirely positive by a majority of the nation’s citizens with the example of the current Rwanda bill which was provided within this blog post. The author also discusses the changing role of the PM and how the PM is moving towards more of a presidential role, the author highlights the increase in control that the PM currently holds and how policymaking has shifted from a bottom-up format to a top-bottom format of legislation. This is an interesting discussion topic as we have seen the recent decline in support for the current PM but there is still yet to be an election being in the works.
Overall, this is an excellent blog piece that positively includes several links to aid the reader’s ability to further enhance knowledge on the topic.
This post is a thought-provoking critique of Britain’s current style of democracy, focusing on several key issues that could cause a democratic deficit. I found the discussion on the frequent change of the PM sine Brexit very intriguing; it reminded me of the undemocratic nature of how our current PM came to power, without being elected by the public yet still advances controversial policies such as the Rwanda immigration bill, raising many questions regarding the legitimacy of his making of policies. I also found the House of Lords critique well argued, specifically when the author mentions how Tony Blair struggled to pass the housing reform bill through the unelected body. What I found most interesting was the analysis of the PM morphing into a presidential style role, with the author tracing the way from Tony Blair to Rishi Sunak. Generally, this blog post is well structured and argues well in that the democratic practices in UK governance have been wiped. It calls attention to the fact that there is a need to undertake reforms in the electoral reforms and to have a policymaking process which is more representative to have public trust and ascertain true democratic governance. The strong case is justified with interesting examples as to why these reforms are necessary to address the democratic deficit in the UK.