In my recent article on devolution policy, I highlighted the problem with accountability in the context of devolved power. This is an issue which needs to be pursued further, particularly because our ‘devolution on demand’ policy (F14 on pp.54-56; lines 70-76) appears to have been drafted without considering the necessary conditions for effective scrutiny.
LibDems often take it for granted that devolving power to the most local level will automatically make politics more relevant, and more democratic. But why should this be? Democracy is at its most effective if voters are able to hold politicians to account, and increased geographical proximity alone is not enough – you have to make sure that voters know what is going on at that particular level. If it is difficult to find out what politicians are doing, indeed, if it’s even hard to be sure which level of government is responsible for what, then voters simply have no chance to give a useful verdict.
For these ends, politicians’ leaflets are necessary, but definitely not sufficient. A properly functioning democracy needs the ‘Third Estate’ – media able to report without interference from politicians; in fact, it takes a whole media landscape to ensure proper accountability. Ideally, this means a combination of public media outlets obliged to strive for impartiality and a range of opinionated voices, all in lively, sometimes perhaps annoyingly shouty, contention with each other. For democracy to function we need journalists who keep themselves informed about the goings-on in government, who know the people involved and who have the time and expertise to scrutinize the information available on the surface, and to dig around for more behind the scenes. In Westminster we take this kind of political journalism for granted, and we may well find it intensely annoying – but you only realise what you are missing when you are confronted with government which enjoys significant powers without proper scrutiny. I would argue that in Wales we are witnessing a situation where the lack of an adequate media landscape has serious implications for the quality of government.
If we want to devolve power to new regional entities, we have to ensure that the new centres of devolved power can be held to account by their electorate. How do voters get independent information about the goings on in their devolved regional government? If we devolve power to areas without a developed media landscape, how do we make sure that they get one, and that people will engage with journalism at this specific regional level? It is not enough just to cross your fingers and assume that it will simply happen. If Wales has difficulties developing an appropriately inquisitive media landscape, how will new, relatively artificial entities do?
Giving away power to new sets of politicians is not, in itself, democratic: we need to give this power to the voters, and this can only happen if we make sure that they actually have the tools to use their power effectively.
* Maria Pretzler is a Lecturer in Greek History at Swansea University. She blogs at Working Memories , where ancient Greekery and Libdemmery can happily coexist.