Ailing Democracies must be Reformed

Even before MP’s expenses, Credit Crunch, Recession and Deficit Reduction Western democracy was in crisis. Implacable partisanship and polarised ideology has rendered the US political system dysfunctional and impotent before globally based problems.

In the UK, decades of Political incompetence in managing and delivering cost effective social services plus an entrenched Civil Service bureaucracy has overspent badly without achieving intended outcomes while old issues distract from present necessities. In Europe, entrenched national self-interest and personal ambition without the willing consent of the people has pursued unrealistic goals denying critical facts.

An ailing world economy with a shift in power from West to East and widespread austerity budgets will generate high levels of international Western unemployment and put democratic consent under acute stress. To breathe new life into democracy in the UK we need:

• A formal declaration of citizens’ rights and responsibilities
• A ‘ Hippocratic oath’ for Politicians
• A formal Social Contract between People and State
• A Competitive low tax regime corporate and personal, simplified to minimise avoidance; with draconian, punitive sanctions for evasion.
• Total transparency personal and corporate for % of income paid in tax.
• A strengthened Freedom of Information Act with minimal exclusions decided by a body independent of Government
• Aggressive action to ensure genuine plurality of ownership in Press and all media.

Without these steps, pious words about ‘being in this together’ will attract the contemptuous disbelief they deserve. The wealthy should be told unequivocally they are expected to pay their proportionate share.

Weak, unreformed Western democracies will be unable to face the challenges economic and political looming over the next few years.

Filed under: politics