Parliament and Public Engagement: two sides of the same

coin?

Cristina Leston-Bandeira(ESRC – RES-000-22-4072)

ECPRD, Parliaments on the net IX, May 2011

Contents

• Discourse of political disengagement

• The endless pursuit of trust

• The paradoxes of parliament

• Marrying Participatory with Representative Democracy

Context of discourse on political disengagement• Decline vote turnout

• Decline in trust

• Political discourse of vote apathy

• But...

• Still, huge area of focus

• New media: first a panacea, then a must

Impact of internet on parliaments

• Internet: opening up

• But many challenges also

• One of the most exposed political institutions

• Questioning of legitimacy

• Parliament has come to symbolise political disengagement

A unique institution

Collective

Visible

Accountable

• No single institutional voice

• Differing (opposing) agendas

• Multiplicity of audiences

• Temporary leaderships (vs permanent staff)

Representative institution

not about participatory democracy

Some of the challenges in adopting new media• Slow processes

• Difficult combination with technology

• An a-political political institution

• Challenge of a single corporate image and voice

• Personification of competing actors

The paradox of parliament and new media

vsPersonal, individual

and spontaneous

nature of new media

Neutral, collective and slow nature of

parliaments

Developing the paradox

How to make the most of new media tools in the context of non-personal, non-immediate and ultimately a-political spaces such as parliaments?

How to support the political voice of parliament?

How to engage with the public in this context?

Developing Public Engagement

• Huge demand for online opening up

• Large investments on public engagement - namely through new media tools

• Development of communication/information services

• Great focus on citizen input

• Great focus on participatory democracy tools

Marriage between Participatory and Representative Democracy

ParliamentRepresenta

tive Democracy

Participatory

Democracy

The perverse effects of Public Engagement

• Activities mainly a-political, a-personal, a-individual

• Public engagement becoming a product in itself

• Contradictory pursuit of participatory democracy

• Undermining of representative and political role of institution

Summing up - two sides of same coin?• Endless pursuit of trust not

entirely helpful

• Fine balance between:

– Impartiality and Political– Accessibility and Representing– Public Engagement and The

Business

• Looking for:

– Integration of political meaning

– Acceptance of Representative remit

Thank you

Photos from respective parliaments’ websites or

iStockphoto.com

C.C.Leston-Bandeira@hull.ac.ukwww2.hull.ac.uk/fass/managing-parliaments-image.aspx

But...

Decline turnout not that significant (Franklin, Rose)

Trust varies according to external variables (Dalton

et al)

Huge increase of participatory democracy

Development of Critical Citizens (Norris)

Summing up - two sides of same coin?• Endless pursuit of trust not

entirely helpful

• Fine balance between:

– Impartiality and Political– Accessibility and Representing– Public Engagement and The

Business

• Looking for:

– Integration of political meaning

– Acceptance of Representative remit