John Bercow on democracy in the digital age

The Speaker of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom (UK), Right Honourable John Bercow MP, spoke at Australian Parliament House last month to address some of the challenges faced by modern governments in the era of the digital revolution and 'disruptive' technology.

Mr Bercow said that despite its 800 years of parliament, the UK could still learn a lot from its Commonwealth counterparts, and that there were many things he admired about Australian Parliament.

For most of his talk, however, he focused on the way digital technology is changing the way that citizens and government interact.

“The principal impact of the technological revolution which we have witnessed over the past 20 years has actually been to bring people closer together, and in new ways to enable them more closely to interact with each other,” he said.

“Technological change has… massively enhanced our democracy in that it has allowed multiple conversations and exchanges to take place which for reasons of practicality were virtually impossible beforehand.”

For all of this rapid change, he noted that in the UK the government had been largely reactive in using new technology to engage with the public, and that other governments had made further advances in, for example, online voting, opening up parliamentary procedures online and allowing online feedback on new legislation.

To investigate ways the UK could start using digital technologies more effectively, last year he launched the Commission on Digital Democracy which so far has been received with enthusiasm.

The Commission will look at how the UK government can meet the digital demands of their citizens, including online voting and incorporating a digital feedback mechanism into the legislative process.

The “medium is the message” for this inquiry, with many submissions to being taken online through social media and other forums. The findings of the report will be published in January 2015.

“Democracy is a flexible creature,” said Bercow in closing.

“It can evolve in many positive directions. If we are determined to be as flexible as well, then we can reconnect parliament and politics with the public and we can raise the quality as well as the quantity of our democratic discourse.”

Mr Bercow’s talk was hosted by the ANU Centre for European Studies and Australian Parliament House.

Watch the full lecture in the video.