Can democracy be applied in our daily lives?
Answers
Answer:
Today marks the first day of the first ever National Democracy Week. It’s important to remember people encounter ‘democracy’ every day — whether trying to influence a local planning decision, applying for benefits, or even just getting through to the local council on the phone — these are all processes shaped by democracy.
Many turn to us when these interactions go wrong, or they’re frustrated by a lack of progress.
We help them navigate these immediate challenges, while our advocacy work aims to empower people to engage by giving them more influence over the decisions affecting their daily lives.
Are people more politically engaged?
In recent years, the UK has seen a number of bursts of democratic enthusiasm and greater voter interest, driven by a number of milestone polls including 2 general elections. This implies that indicators like political party membership point to more people being more politically engaged.
But that’s not the whole picture. We know huge numbers of people simply don’t participate in any democratic activity at all — voting or otherwise. Research published earlier this year points to the ‘deconsolidation’ of support for democracy in Western Europe, including the UK.
It suggests this is particularly true of younger people, with many millennials doubting whether it’s ‘essential’ to live in a democracy. So we should be wary of assumptions or grand statements about people being more, or less, or differently democratically engaged.
Conversations about democratic engagement often stay within groups of people who are already democratically engaged. We help people who might not be engaged, and who feel cut off from influencing the decisions and services that affect their everyday lives.
When they turn to us for help with problems, we hear their frustration about the broken systems which let them down. But all too often, flaws in the systems, tools or channels needed to solve their problems leave them feeling powerless.
Some processes are out of sync with realities of living
Our research found one of the reasons for this is that while many people embrace civil society, some democratic processes — like engaging with your local council — are out of sync with the realities of how people live and behave. As one interviewee said: “The system doesn’t involve people or appear to be relevant to people’s lives.”
For example, people are required to get hold of and act on information, like paperwork, which is hard or impractical to access — both physically (like a building only open during working hours) and also in terms of ease of understanding.
We also found two biases tied into democratic processes. Firstly, those facing more financial insecurity have a more negative attitude towards democratic processes and public life, making them less inclined to engage.
The second bias was around a lack of confidence. 6 in 10 people surveyed for our research did not consider themselves as assertive. We found this in turn means they’re less likely to engage, seek to influence, or complain when things go wrong. They perceive democratic channels for influence as largely public or combative- a major turn-off for most people.
National Democracy Week is being run by the Cabinet Office with support from organisations passionate about ensuring people engage with democratic processes. We support these efforts to reach out to different communities because yes, we need more people registered to vote.
But more than that, we need to encourage democratic participation of all kinds among groups under-represented on the electoral roll, such as BME communities or private renters. These groups are already over-represented among our clients, and we know that many face multiple, interconnected challenges which can stand in the way of democratic engagement.
That’s why, in addition to giving people the help they need to solve their problems, we use the evidence of their experiences to drive changes to improve the policies and practices that impact their lives.