Dilemmas of democracy: challenges to parliamentary practices from the UK public and parliamentarians

Abstract

The absence of a codified constitution for the United Kingdom combined with numerous parliamentary conventions often perceived as arcane unwritten rules, made the need for guidelines on parliamentary proceedings particularly acute. Thus, in the XIXth century, the initiative came from outside Parliament with aspiring parliamentarians like Albert Venn Dicey in his Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution and Walter Bagehot in his English Constitution – two authoritative works on Parliament. But it also emanated from within Parliament with Erskine May, a former clerk of the House of Commons, the author of the invaluable Treatise upon the Law, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament – enlightening parliamentary procedure. MPs guides to procedure have also brought clarification and guidance to (new) members of the House. Indeed, Parliament is “a microcosm”, with its own rules and rituals. They contribute to widening the gap between Parliament and the People it represents. Unprecedented crisis – first Brexit then the Coronavirus pandemic – have stretched parliamentary practices to their limits leading to daunting challenges such as turning Parliament into a virtual or remote legislature making it more difficult for the latter to perform its key role of holding the government to account. Yet it could be an opportunity to rethink parliamentary practices while making them more accessible to the people, thus contributing to restoring trust between them without which there cannot be an effective democracy.