Parliament and Democracy

By: MacDonald, J. Ramsay

In dealing with the problems which men in action have to face, I indicated that certain changes ought to be made in our representative machinery. At the present time we have two sections in conflict - one declaring for regional representation, and for that alone, and the other for occupational representation, and for that alone: one basing its conception of government upon citizenship and the other upon industrial function. These are really not mutually exclusive, however much their ardent advocates try to make them so. They ought to be assimilated. It is necessary, however, when discussing how this ought to be done, to discuss at the same time the function of Parliament itself, assign to it its duties, endow it with its accompanying administrative and other bodies, and settle their relationships. Only when we have made up our minds as to the character and modes of working of the institution to which we are electing are we in a position to consider how the elelcting should be done in order to secure the maximum accuracy of representation. This is seen if we observe the contention of two schools of Parliamentary reformers which have long been active inside the Independent Labour Party. One school asked us to change the method of election and adopt either the Second Ballot or Proportional Represen- tation; only then was Parliament to represent the wiU of the country and so be entitled to exercise power. Another school drew our attention to defects in the Parliamentary mechanism itself, and promised a vast improvement in the representative machine when Cabinets ceased to exist and affairs of State were settled by committees of members of Parliament. Neither of these proposals touches the question that has now been raised. Parliament has now to withstand an attack of a totally different character. It has to justify its existence. Not the reformer but the destroyer has arisen, and the Socialist movement is challenged to declare whether it believes at all in Parliament as the means by which the Socialist State is to come.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1657536300
• ISBN13: 9781657536302
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 88 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"