Some years ago, Sarah Macauley, as she then was, persuaded me to sponsor a conference on the role of referendums in political life. For those of my age and coming from Wales, our introduction to such assessments of public opinion came from very formal processes to assess whether pubs and bars could be open on a Sunday.
Today, it is Sarah's husband, Gordon Brown, who has to ponder the outcome of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty and where the EU might go from here. I did obtain a copy of the Treaty and tried to read it. I do wonder whether anyone managed to get beyond page 3. There has been plenty of debate about the role of communication from the EU to the 450 million people who now live within the Union, but I am yet to see any activity. Certainly, when I worked in Brussels, I encountered the peculiar EU language of bureaucracy and the creation of many words and phrases that seemed to only exist within the corridors of the Commission and the Parliament. Indeed, my old colleague, Paul Adamson, at The Centre, produced a lexicon that sought to throw some light onto some of the more bizarre creations.
At the same time, in the UK, we have the resignation and by-election caused by David Davis' fears about the loss of constitutional freedoms. I am currently writing a book about the influence of new technologies on the traditional relationships between citizens, banks, shops and the state. Hardly a day goes by without another complex issue raising its head and the arrival of such technologies as Phorm which have the potential to radically change the worlds of PR and advertising.
Meanwhile, the BBC Trust has published a report on the issues of reporting politics in a devolved UK environment. Read a Scottish daily and you will find little coverage of events from the other parts of the UK. In Wales, most of the newspapers read are produced in England and seek to serve a larger English audience. Current affairs and commentary- rather than political reporting - now seem to be the staple of most newspapers. Major political issues are invariably reported from a Westminster perspective as if devolution had never occurred. The ban on smoking in public places, which had different start dates throughout the UK, was woefully and inaccurately reported. There is no wonder that cultural divides - and antagonisms - between the UK's constituent parts has become part of the status quo. And if that was not enough of a challenge, I also read this week that only 15% of UK residents ever read a newspaper.
This growing disconnect will be a major concern to politicians and the public affairs industry at large. In Brussels, I met enough notable figures whose views basically were that democracy had no real role in the 'Project' and that EU citizens were too mentally-challenged to either have a view or to play any part in the future of the bloc. In the UK, some will argue that the media no longer reports politics, but that politics divines its policies from the pages of the tabloid press.
To this complex set of issues is added today a US dimension. George Bush is in London today bidding adieu to both Blair and Brown. The broadcasters and traditional media appear to suggest that once Bush retires, then US politics will return to normal and all current global issues will ameliorate. Pages of newsprint and hours of satellite time have been devoted to the US process, with scarcely a word about possible future policies.
All these examples show a growing disconnect between politics and the people. The Irish referendum focussed on issues as diverse as abortion, agriculture, an EU army and neutrality. Anyone trying to analyse why Ireland said 'no' will have a real challenge on their hands. David Davis will now find out whether people are concerned about growing state intervention in their lives or whether they follow a tabloid line of detaining any possible terrorists for up to 42 days.
Meanwhile, Gordon Brown will be in Brussels determining a way forward from the Irish vote. Perhaps Sarah will remind him of California which regularly uses referendums to assess public views and opinions. If I remember correctly, referendum voters there regularly vote to liberalise laws on drugs, and equally often vote for even more stringent penalties.
Quite how UK and European politicians rebuild this bridge to voters remains to be seen. There are now more PR people than journalists in the UK and it might well be that the communications industry should play a role in this. I would have welcomed a simple guide to the Lisbon Treaty, for example. Possibly, some Brussels lobbyists have already climbed this Everest. But the range of other issues now seems almost too complex to even attempt. There has to be informed discussion and debate within democracies and the PA industry has a major role to play there. In a disconnected society, quite what role communications will play in future remains to be seen.
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