SIR – The current representative democracy we enjoy is only one type of democracy and the least democratic.
It involves voting for a person for four to five years with little accountability.
It creates a semipermanent political class that is distant from the people it represents.
Participatory democracy is a form of democratic engagement that gets close to the true meaning of citizenship and is a process that could help foster public understanding and choice when it comes to budgetary cuts.
The allocation of resources with competing priorities are cause for alienation and disagreement. If we were to have very localised delegates with power of scrutiny as to where our money is spent there would be a true representation of people’s views.
With most public money spent without public engagement it asks the question of Britain, for so long the mother of parliaments, that it could try something new: democracy.
RICHARD BOORN
Worcester
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