Author: Assemblies for Democracy

Wanted: A Magna Carta for the 21st century

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The attacks on the rule of law and access to justice – two key principles of the Magna Carta – by successive governments should lead us to rethink the existing relationship between the state and citizens and then to reimagine democracy.

Eventually, everyone came to enjoy the rights enshrined in the constitutional settlement between King John and powerful barons signed at Runnymede 800 years ago. This was no smooth process, however. The mass of the people had to struggle over many centuries for the rule of law – as opposed to the unbridled power of the state – to apply to them and their activities. Continue reading →

Re-imagining democracy – peoples’ assemblies – by Paul Feldman for openDemocracy

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This spring, inaugural Assemblies for Democracy in London, Manchester and Glasgow will identify the major issues with our clearly inadequate democracy and then start work thinking on how we could solve them.

The Spring Assemblies are part of the unfolding conversation about what Al Gore once described as our “hollowed-out democracy”. Can we fix it with a few palliative, reformist measures? Or, dare we suggest, has representative democracy had its day? Do we, as Owen Jones thinks, need a “democratic revolution”? If Jones and others like Russell Brand are right about democracy’s failings, how are we going to achieve deep-going change? Read more

Young people can revitalise democracy – by Nigel Thomas, University of Central Lancashire

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How can there be a democracy that excludes a quarter of the population? First the vote was restricted to men with property; then it was restricted to men; then it was restricted to adults – at first to those aged 21 and over, then since 1970 to those aged 18 and over. Now there are widespread demands to reduce the minimum voting age to 16, given a massive boost by the success of the Scottish referendum in mobilising young people to take part – not just in the voting but also in the debate. Continue reading →

Inspiration from an Iraqi poet

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… A country is not a country without its people
who are not people without love
which is not love without liberty
which is not liberty without awareness
which is not awareness without knowledge
which is not knowledge without reading
which is not reading without books
which are not books without writers
who are not writers without life
which is not life without beauty
which is not beauty without art
which is not art without creativity
which is not creativity without experimentation
which is not experimentation without searching
which is not searching without exploring
which is not exploring without openness
which is not openness without confidence
which is not confidence without peace
which is not peace without law
which is not law without justice
which is not justice without equality
which is not equality without rights
which are not rights without conscience
which is not conscience without ethics
which is not ethics without nurture
which is not nurture without education
which is not education without learning
which is not learning without growth
which is not growth without discussion
which is not discussion without thought
which is not thought without freedom
which is not freedom without independence
which is not independence without people
who are not people without … etc

From Reading and the Tomahawk followed by The Intellectual and Assassination (780 pages) 2010, Beirut
by Adnan al-Sayegh [supporter of Assemblies for Democracy]

Assemblies for Democracy – by Matilda Murday, Democratic Society

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This coming spring three grass roots Assembly events will be happening in London, Manchester and Glasgow, where people will come together to discover and discuss democracy and power in the UK. The plan is for these events to generate questions about who and what holds power in the modern British democratic system and what the future could and should look like. Read more

Assemblies can put real democracy on the map – A World to Win

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The Tories’ proposals that only MPs with seats in England should vote on laws that relate solely to England is more than just a political manoeuvre that they calculate will bring them electoral advantage over Labour. Their plan is a further indication of the break-up of the current political arrangements. These are under immense strain from a range of internal and external processes which together constitute the end of democracy – at least as we have come to know it.  Read more