You may recall the outrage in the last UK election when Blair's Labour Party won a significant number of seats despite only winning 37% of the vote. Britain's "first past the post" election system, not to mention the public concern with the concentrated power of the PM as opposed to Parliament has chiseled away at democracy in recent years. Now, a new report is coming out that will review new programs to re-introduce democracy in the UK. Maybe it's about time the Democrats think of something like this for the US.
The independent Power commission calls for sweeping changes to prevent a dangerous gulf between politicians and the people becoming even wider. Its ideas include allowing the public to initiate legislation and a shift of power back from the Government to Parliament, following criticism that Tony Blair has neutered it.
Power to the People, the commission's 311-page report, demands a new electoral system "to ensure that all votes count by having some influence on the final outcome of an election."
However, the inquiry concludes that electoral reform is only "one part of a wider 'jigsaw' of change required to re-engage the British people with their political system".
Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws said: "Politics and government are increasingly in the hands of privileged elites as if democracy has run out of steam. Too often citizens are being evicted from decision-making - rarely asked to get involved and rarely listened to. As a result, they see no point in voting, joining a party or engaging with formal politics.
