General Election 2017: What’s the Future of Democratic Politics?

The 2017 General Election has been billed “The Brexit Election”. However, the key issue many voted on in the 2016 EU Referendum – taking back democratic control – has so far been largely absent from the discussion. While recent Brexit negotiations between the UK government and the EU have taken place behind closed doors: far away from the British public.

It has long been argued that there is a “democratic deficit”, for which the EU is often given the blame. But in reality, as recent elections have shown, the problems of representative democracy run deeply throughout all Western societies.

So would leaving the EU really be enough to “restore democracy” to the UK? What do people mean by “taking back control”? And what do we want the future of democratic politics to look like?

topics:

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date:

Wednesday 31 May 2017

time:

6:15pm to 8PM

admission:

£5/£4

speakers/panellists:

useful reading:

In the wake of the Article 50 legal challenge, we should keep asking questions about executive powers, Tessa Mayes, Brexit Central, 17 February 2017

Why democracy is not just about structures and rules, Stephen Coleman, Guardian, 6 May 2010

The Politics of Electoral Reform, Michael Meadowncroft (4th Edition, July 2016)

Gina Miller – Keynote Speech – The Convention, 12 May 2017, Best for Britain blog

The EU Democratic Deficit: A Recurring but Unaddressed Problem, Alexandros Kyriakidis, EU & Democracy, 6 April 2017

A no vote for referendums, Michael Meadowcroft, Guarian, 26 April 2012