The Responsibilities of Democracy

The Responsibilities of Democracy explores the overall health of UK democracy, giving a balanced analysis of its values and flaws. It is also a clarion call to the electorate and politicians to nurture and protect the gentle values on which democracy depends. No reader seeking to understand democracy can afford to ignore this book.

Democracy depends on consent. That means politicians have to argue their causes and win consensus. But democracy has its flaws, not least in the lack of efficiency in the decision-making process. In this book, two leading figures of the British political establishment share their thoughts on where democracy is heading and how it can survive in the 21st century. John Major outlines the qualities on which a healthy democracy depends, as he deplores the current trends in political exchange. Nick Clegg writes of the ways in which political language has always involved trading insults, and he argues that compromise is not betrayal but the very substance of our politics and our democracy. Based on contributions they made to the Westminster Abbey Institute’s democracy series, this authoritative analysis of the state of democracy in the UK is a clarion call to the electorate and politicians to nurture and protect the values on which that democracy depends.