Dr Simon Duffy of the Centre for Welfare Reform (a Sheffield-based citizen think tank) asks whether what we call local government in England really qualifies as democratic. This talk was part of the It's Our City campaign to improve governance in Sheffield.

1. Is Sheffield a Democracy?
Why it’s time to raise
our expectations
of ourselves and
of local democracy
Dr Simon Duffy
@simonjduffy
@cforwr
@citizen_network
@UBILabSheffield
#DemocracySheffield

2. As a member of the Labour
Party and as someone who has
closely studied Austerity and its
vicious attack on local
government and local services I
want to be clear: our primary
problems are caused by
policies imposed upon Sheffield
by Westminster and Whitehall.

4. But what is our vision for
a better future?
Is a better democracy not
part of what we are
looking for? If so, what
would that look like?

5. It is useful to step back
and to understand what
a strange place England
has become.

6. 1. UK is hyper-centralised - it is the most centralised in
developed world.
2. Local government is weak and has been the primary
target for austerity.
3. Northern authorities are robbed of public funding and
the new funding system will make a bad problem worse.
4. We’ve forgotten the meaning of democracy and we’ve
forgotten what it means to be a citizen.
5. The ability to transform our lives and our communities
is in our hands… but we must change how we act.

7. Sheffield is far
more populous
than Iceland

10. • Iceland has a high quality welfare system, higher levels of equality
and a better performing economy (and it’s a lot colder than Sheffield).
• Iceland has a President, Prime Minister, Parliament (with 63 seats) a
Supreme Court and a constitution. And it put 36 bankers in jail, for a
total of 96 years.
• It has 74 municipalities, which control kindergartens, primary
schools, waste management, social services, public housing, public
transport, services to senior citizens and to disabled people.
[i.e. equivalent to 120 local areas within Sheffield.]
• The autonomy of municipalities is guaranteed by the constitution of
Iceland.
• Sheffield has none of these things… even our local schools are
effectively controlled by Whitehall.

11. Born out of severe
socio-economic conflict
Athens invented
democracy and helped
to define the ideal of
citizenship more than
2,500 years ago.

12. • At its peak ancient Athens had a population of about
300,000 people.
• 50,000 citizens had the right to vote in the assembly and
participate in the courts.
• About 1,100 citizens held office each year, with positions
mostly filled by lots (sortition) and with strict term limits and
clear accountabilities.
• Athens (and Attica) was also divided into c. 140 demes, each
of which also had its own democratic structures. e.g. demes
were responsible for educating the young.
[i.e equivalent to 250 local demes for Sheffield.]
• Representational democracy was considered oligarchic and
unworthy of a community of equal citizens.

13. The Athenians understood
that citizens need…
• The ideal of citizenship to be
Valued
• Authority over collective decisions
• Time to be a citizen - e.g. basic
income
• Rights to enable individuality and
freedom
• Responsibility to enable creation
of a shared world
• Common ownership and common
spaces - e.g assembly and agora

14. Can we solve
our problems
without
becoming
a city of citizens?

20. 1. Yes - we need a whole new national
settlement for fairness and democracy.
2. But we don’t need to wait for that. We
can begin the process of making positive
change now.
3. If Sheffield is to be a city of citizens then
we can start to put in place structures
that show our commitment to that fact.

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