A report said that well-planned social campaigns could have a 'fundamental and long-lasting impact', including in circumstances where campaigning was the only effective course of action available to achieve change.
Source: Gustaf Lofgren, Tris Lumley and Adam O'Boyle, Critical Masses: Social campaigning, a guide for donors and funders, New Philanthropy Capital (0207 401 8080)
Links: Report | NPC press release
Date: 2008-Dec
The government published the results of consultation on its draft legislative programme, published in May 2008.
Source: The Government's Draft Legislative Programme: Summary of Consultation, Cm 7561, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Dec
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the independence of the civil service. It said that accusations of 'politicization' contrasted with the reality of a constructive relationship between Ministers, permanent civil servants, and special advisers.
Source: Politics and Administration: Ministers and Civil Servants – Government Response to the Committee's Third Report, Tenth Special Report (Session 2007-08), HC 1057, House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2008-Oct
A report evaluated an experimental extension of citizen participation into decision-making processes – the Citizens' POLIS (Participatory On-Line Interactive System), a 'multi-phase, multi-method, hypermedia' participation process.
Source: Simon Williams, Introducing the Citizens' POLIS: A new approach to online citizen participation in political decision-making, Working Paper 117, School of Social Sciences/Cardiff University (029 2087 5179)
Date: 2008-Sep
A report examined how people had influenced policy decisions through civil society associations, based on four case studies.
Source: Power Moves: Exploring Power and Influence in the UK, Carnegie UK Trust (01383 721445)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Aug
The government published a discussion paper setting out a proposed framework for greater citizen engagement in national policy-making, using innovative methods such as citizens' summits and juries. The paper also contained proposals for strengthening the process for petitioning the House of Commons.
Source: A National Framework for Greater Citizen Engagement, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Discussion paper
Date: 2008-Jul
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers commended the government for taking the first steps towards its stated objective of making government more accountable to Parliament. However, the committee had found it 'difficult to discern' the principles underpinning the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill, and asked the government to reflect further on whether 'Constitutional Renewal' was an appropriate title.
Source: Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill, HC 551 and HL 166, Joint Committee on Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill (House of Lords and House of Commons) Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jul
A report said that people wanted to be able to influence public services policy, and would do more if they felt it would make a difference: but they did not always come forward spontaneously, so public bodies needed to be creative and pro-active about listening. Most public bodies were better at providing information than they were at listening or responding to people's views about how to make things work better. A comprehensive strategy for involvement was needed.
Source: Putting People into Public Services: Involving people in policy, National Consumer Council (020 7730 3469)
Links: Link removed
Date: 2008-Jul
A paper set out the principles behind 'deliberative public engagement' – a distinctive approach to involving people in decision-making, in which participants were given time to consider and discuss an issue in depth before they came to a considered view.
Source: Diane Warburton et al., Deliberative Public Engagement: Nine principles, National Consumer Council (020 7730 3469)
Links: Paper
Date: 2008-Jul
The government published a report setting out the progress achieved in its programme for constitutional change, a year after publication of a Green Paper.
Source: Governance of Britain: One Year On, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report | Hansard | MOJ press release | ERS press release
Date: 2008-Jul
The government announced (in the draft Queen's Speech) plans to introduce 18 different Bills in the next legislative session, organized around four themes: 'economic stability'; 'making the most of your potential'; 'personalisation and improvement of public services'; and 'handing power back to the people'.
Source: Preparing Britain for the Future: The government's draft legislative programme, Cm 7372, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Draft Queens Speech | Amendments | Hansard | Help the Aged press release | NCB press release | TUC press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Telegraph report | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2008-May
A new book examined the ways in which people's behaviour was governed and administered in a wide range of organizational contexts, and how these forms of control were interlinked.
Source: Peter Miller and Nik Rose, Governing the Present: Administering economic, social and personal life, Polity Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary | LSE press release
Date: 2008-Apr
A literature review examined the structures of power – institutional and in society at large – in contemporary Britain.
Source: David Beetham, Andrew Blick, Helen Margetts and Stuart Weir, Power and Participation in Modern Britain, Carnegie UK Trust (01383 721445)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Mar
A think-tank report proposed reforms designed to revive representative democracy. These included: the right to object to a too limited range of candidates in an election; US-style primaries to choose the winning candidate in 'safe' seats; adopting a two-stage election process so that only candidates with 50 per cent plus one of the votes were returned immediately, with a run-off in other cases between the top two candidates; and extending those public positions that were subject to election, beginning with police chiefs and the heads of housing associations.
Source: Frank Field MP, Back from Life Support: Remaking representative and responsible government in Britain, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Feb
A new book examined the recent history of the civil service, including attempts at modernization under the Labour government since 1997. A separate chapter dealt with policy processes at the heart of government.
Source: June Burnham and Robert Pyper, Britain's Modernised Civil Service, Palgrave Macmillan (01256 329242)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Feb
A think-tank report said that the internet was set to have a profound effect on the language and conduct of politics and policy. It would increasingly be used to hold politicians to account. Greater access to official government data could revolutionize the way policy-making worked. and enable like-minded groups to develop potent single-issue campaigns.
Source: Robert Colvile, Politics, Policy and the Internet, Centre for Policy Studies (020 7222 4488)
Links: Report | CPS press release
Date: 2008-Feb
The opposition Conservative Party published a taskforce report which set out a programme for restoring public respect for the political system. The measures proposed included: reforming party funding, with caps on donations and general election spending; changing the way breaches of the ministerial code were handled; ending the system whereby MPs voted on their own pay; tightening up the MPs' allowance system; and resolving the issue of ministers taking jobs after they stepped down from office.
Source: Democracy Task Force, Trust in Politics: A programme for restoring public respect for the political system, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000)
Links: Report | Conservative Party press release
Date: 2008-Jan
The government responded to a consultation exercise on its code of practice on consultation. It said that it would work on developing a revised code that 'took on board' many of the points made during the review.
Source: Effective Consultation: Asking the Right Questions, Asking the Right People, Listening to the Answers – Government Response, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (0870 150 2500)
Links: Response | Consultation document
Date: 2008-Jan
A report (by an official advisory body) recommended the establishment of a Risk and Regulation Advisory Council, designed to ensure that policy-making benefited from a fuller consideration of public risk. The government accepted the recommendation and appointed the Council, which replaced the Better Regulation Commission.
Source: Public Risk: The next frontier for better regulation, Better Regulation Commission (020 7276 2142)
Links: Report | DBERR press release | HSC press release | NCC press release
Date: 2008-Jan
A report (by a grouping of former senior civil servants and advisers) set out 50 recommendations for the more effective design and delivery of government policy. The capacity of Parliament to scrutinize the proposals of the executive and to hold it to account for its decisions should be strengthened. Before policy decisions were taken by the government, proposals should be thoroughly tested by objective analysis. Service deliverers – such as executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies, the National Health Service, and local authorities – should be set clear objectives against which their performance would be monitored: but they should not be micro-managed by central government.
Source: Governing Well, Better Government Initiative (info@bettergovernmentinitiative.co.uk)
Links: Report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Jan
The government published a review of voting systems which examined the experiences of the different forms of elections introduced over the previous ten years in the United Kingdom. It assessed elections to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, and Northern Ireland Assembly, and those to the European Parliament, London Assembly and London Mayor, as well as some international experiences. The review found that there was no clear causal relationship between proportional representation and a range of desirable outcomes.
Source: Review of Voting Systems: The experience of new voting systems in the United Kingdom since 1997, Cm 7304, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Hansard | MOJ press release | ERS press release | Unlock Democracy press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jan