The elections watchdog said that the United Kingdom's electoral processes needed fundamental reform in order to safeguard public confidence. Electoral administration needed more consistent resourcing and support, and a commitment from governments and legislators to consolidate and simplify electoral law. Individual voter registration, as used in Northern Ireland, should replace household registration.
Source: Electoral Administration in the UK: The Electoral Commission's assessment, Electoral Commission (020 7271 0500)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2007-Dec
A report for the elections watchdog (the 'Gould review') said that Scotland's voters were 'treated as an afterthought' in the planning and organization of the May 2007 elections for the Scottish Parliament and local authorities.
Source: Independent Review of the Scottish Parliamentary and Local Government Elections 3 May 2007, Electoral Commission (020 7271 0500)
Links: Report | Electoral Commission press release | SG press release | COSLA press release | ERS press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Oct
An article said that the withdrawal of young people from formal politics might be a result of their scepticism over the way the political system operated, rather than apathy; and that government social policy aimed at mobilizing social capital and addressing socio-economic issues might increase civic engagement.
Source: Matt Henn, Mark Weinstein and Sarah Hodgkinson, 'Social capital and political participation: understanding the dynamics of young people's political disengagement in contemporary Britain', Social Policy and Society, Volume 6 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Sep
The elections watchdog said that trials designed to increase turnout in local elections in 2007 by allowing telephone and internet voting had a 'significant and unacceptable' security risk. The government should halt pilots of telephone and internet voting until they were more secure.
Source: Press release 2 August 2007, Electoral Commission (020 7271 0500)
Links: Electoral Commission press release | Guardian report | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2007-Aug
A think-tank report examined the potential for giving citizens a more direct role in policy-making, as a way of countering voter disengagement.
Source: Taking the Initiative: The case for citizen-led decision making, New Politics Network (020 7278 4443)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Aug
A study of voting in the Scottish Parliament election of May 2007 found that the highest proportion of rejected constituency votes came in the most deprived areas. More than 140,000 papers were spoiled, compared to 15,000 in 1999.
Source: Christopher Carman and James Mitchell, An Examination of Ballot Rejection in the Scottish Parliamentary Election of 2007, Department of Government/University of Strathclyde (0141 548 2733)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2007-Jun
A think-tank report put forward a 10-point action plan to improve local election turnout and encourage the selection of more diverse candidates. It advocated switching to a single transferable vote (STV) system for councils.
Source: Jo Dungey, Democracy Day, Local Government Information Unit (020 7554 2800)
Links: Report | LGIU press release
Date: 2007-Jun
The elections watchdog announced that it would be undertaking a full, independent review of the May 2007 elections in Scotland. In particular, it would be focusing on the reasons for the high number of rejected ballots; failures in the electronic counting process; and the arrangements for postal voting.
Source: Press release 4 May 2007, Electoral Commission (020 7271 0500)
Links: Electoral Commission press release | ERS press release | Hansard | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2007-May
A report compared levels of political activity in Scotland with those in the United Kingdom and Europe as a whole.
Source: Kesi Mahendran and Deborah Cook, Participation and Engagement in Politics and Policy Making: Building a bridge between Europe and its citizens - Evidence review Paper One, Scottish Executive (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Mar
An annual report measured the nature and extent of political engagement in the United Kingdom. It said that levels of engagement were holding steady: over the period 2004-2007, the majority of key indicators had fluctuated only marginally.
Source: An Audit of Political Engagement 4, Hansard Society (020 7955 7459) and Electoral Commission
Date: 2007-Mar
A new book examined what actually happened when the public and public bodies engaged with one another, in case study examples; and whether and how these new 'participatory spaces' could fulfil their claims to empower citizens, improve public services, and revitalize political life.
Source: Marian Barnes, Janet Newman and Helen Sullivan, Power, Participation and Political Renewal: Case studies in public participation, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Feb
A report said that if increasing antagonism towards traditional democratic practices and institutions were to be reversed, local political authorities should be willing and able to move beyond consumer satisfaction and public consultation to more deliberative and participatory politics.
Source: John Annette and Stella Creasy, Individual Pathways in Participation, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Report | ESRC press release
Date: 2007-Feb
A study examined electoral registration and turnout among South Asian communities in England and Wales. Turnout was higher in areas where South Asians were more likely to be from lower social classes than in areas where more middle-class South Asians lived, usually in less ethnically diverse neighbourhoods - supporting the hypothesis that South Asians living in South Asian communities were more effectively mobilized by political parties or community leaders than those living elsewhere.
Source: Edward Fieldhouse and David Cutts, Electoral Participation of South Asian Communities in England and Wales, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings
Date: 2007-Feb
A think-tank report examined how 'citizens' initiatives' could revitalize politics (citizens' initiatives would allow voters both to propose and to vote on legislation, bypassing the legislature).
Source: Matt Qvortrup, Supply Side Politics: How citizens' initiatives could revitalise British politics, Centre for Policy Studies (020 7222 4488)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Feb