A passion poisoned by process?

Writing in The House Magazine, Susanna Kalitowski interprets the latest survey of public attitudes to Parliament

The Westminster Parliament is the heart of democracy in the United Kingdom. But in this age of widespread 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 further 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 reveal strikingly low levels of knowledge about Parliament, as well as some surprising perceptions about its role. While half of people profess to be knowledgeable about politics, over two-thirds (68%) feel that they do not have a good understanding of how Parliament works.

We asked people to what extent they knew about six aspects of Parliament: the House of Commons, the House of Lords, Prime Minister's Questions, how laws are made, debates on issues of the day and select committee inquiries. In view of the prevailing ignorance, it is unsurprising that the majority told us that they know either not very much or nothing at all about all six.

People feel considerably more informed about the House of Commons (42%) than the House of Lords (26%).  In terms of Parliament's day-to-day work, the public are most familiar with Prime Minister's Questions and how laws are made, with 46% of people feeling knowledgeable about each - 14% more than the number of people who say they understand Parliament as a whole!

The least understood component of Parliament's work are select committee inquiries: 80% of people say they know not very much or nothing at all about them. This is a shame in light of past research which has found that people are particularly attracted to the style of work they undertake once an explanation is given about how they operate. 

Select committees are also one of the most obvious manifestations of the distinction between Parliament and government, which our survey found 51% of people fail to recognise.

What is more, not even half of those who claim to understand this essential difference can correctly identify the functions of each body. For example, even people who recognise that Parliament and government are not the same thing are divided about who has responsibility for drafting major legislation, with 34% saying it is government's role and 31% saying that it is Parliament's role. Only 42% associate ‘debating and passing laws' and ‘holding ministers responsible for their actions' with Parliament rather than government.

Fortunately, interest in Parliament is higher than knowledge, with 53% of the public saying they are interested in Parliament and 47% open to the possibility of learning more about what goes on there.

As in past surveys about attitudes towards politics, a number of demographic groups are significantly less likely to say they are interested in and knowledgeable about Parliament: lower socio-economic groups, people from outside the South East, young people aged 18-24 and women.

One silver lining in our findings is that two of these disengaged groups - young people and women - are disproportionately more likely to say that they would like to learn more about what happens in Parliament. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for people from lower socio-economic groups, who are 10 percentage points less likely to say they want to know more.

On a more positive note, around half of the population believes that Parliament undertakes important functions that no other body can undertake and that it is relevant to the lives of ordinary people.

However, only 19% of agree with the statement ‘Parliament is working for me'. Over half (52%) disagree. Similarly, only 18% believe that Parliament broadly reflects the make-up of British society, accurately reflecting the severe under-representation of women and ethnic minority groups at Westminster - and highlighting the need for the upcoming Speaker's Conference on the subject.

The poll results suggest that Parliament is viewed by the public less as a medium for participatory government and more as a necessary - but elite - part of non-participatory government.

Parliament is held in high regard by at least half of the population, but many people - particularly from lower socio-economic groups - feel disconnected from the institution. It is clear that much more needs to be done to educate people about how Parliament works and how they can engage with it.

Susanna Kalitowski is a research fellow on the Hansard Society's Parliament and Government Programme. Parliament and the Public: Knowledge, Interest and Perceptions can be downloaded from the Hansard Society website.

This article originally appeared in The House Magazine on 24 November 2008.