Hansard Society eNewsletter - December 2008
Publications
Parliament
and the Public: Knowledge, Interest and Perceptions
The
Westminster Parliament is the heart of democracy in the United Kingdom. But in
this age of political disenchantment, how do the British people view the
nation's supreme representative body? The Hansard Society's annual Audit
of Political Engagement recently found that 75% of people agree that a
strong Parliament is good for democracy, yet only a third are satisfied with how
the institution works at the moment.
In an effort to shed light on the
public's complex relationship with Parliament, we commissioned ComRes
to conduct a poll examining people's attitudes towards the institution. The
results,
reported in the briefing Parliament
and the Public: knowledge, interests and perceptions, reveal strikingly
low levels of knowledge about Parliament, as well as some suprising perceptions
about its role:
- Just 32% of people agree that they 'have a good understanding of
the way Parliament works'
- Only one in two members of the public are confident that
Parliament is not the same thing as Government
- Younger people (18-34) and women are more likely to want to know
more about Parliament
- An overwhelming majority of people feel that Parliament is
unrepresentative of society
Citizenship
Young
people aren't allergic to politics! HeadsUp Forum 17 November-5
December
For the last three weeks HeadsUp has got together with the
Youth
Citizenship Commission to find out what young people think about politics,
citizenship and their community. The Commission will report its findings to
Gordon Brown in the spring. The forum was our most popular to date with over 300
posts from users.
The final report will be available from www.headsup.org.uk in mid-December
but here are a few advanced snippets from the young people in the
forum...
Politicians: they don't listen, only talk to adults and
make politics complicated. They should make the effort to visit young people in
their own environments, including social networking sites like
MySpace.
Media: There aren't enough political programmes for young
people, the media focuses only on negative coverage of politics and politicians,
as well as young people, which puts them off.
Volunteering:
Volunteering makes you a better citizen, there should be more opportunities for
volunteering and promotion outside of school might improve young people's
impression of volunteering.
Citizenship Education: Young people
aren't very aware of Citizenship education and have little understanding of how
politics fits into the citizenship curriculum. Young people want more
information but in a simple understandable format. TV, YouTube, information on
cereal boxes, blogs, current affairs programmes on specific issues and debates
were suggested as good ways to inform young people.
Study
& Scholars
Vietnamese
Delegation visit London, Edinburgh and Cardiff
During November, the Study and Scholars
programme hosted a delegation of senior Vietnamese parliamentarians from the
Office of the National Assembly. The delegation undertook an extensive four week
programme of British Parliamentary education and training. The first two weeks,
which were based in London, consisted of interactive sessions and lectures to
give an introduction to British politics, covering topics as wide as
parliamentary select committees, media and politics, the executive and the
European Union. They also got to experience the daily workings of Members of
Parliament through a shadowing programme, as well as learning about the work of
the House of Commons Department of Information Services.
The third weeks
programme was organsied by the Hansard
Society Scotland office, where the delegation learned about devolution and
the workings of the Scottish Parliament. They also had the opportunity to
interact with MSPs and observed First Ministers Question Time. The final week
continued the theme of devolution with a visit to the National Assembly of
Wales.
Events
Citizens
and Consumers: which does democracy need more?
Wednesday 28
January, 6pm, Portcullis House, Westminster
Speakers: Ken
Livingstone and Angela Knight (Chief Executive, British Bankers
Association), more to be announced.
This latest Democracy Forum will
address, with reference to the current financial crisis, whether we are passive
consumers of globalised forces, or whether we have an active role to play as
citizens in a democracy.
To attend this event, please sign up here
and
lastly.......
HAPPY
HOLIDAYS