Our democratic deficit - yet another critical report

Uncomfortable times for Jersey's anti-democratic political establishment.

To the surprise of absolutely no-one, a report by international observers have found Jersey and our dodgy electoral system to be in breach of international democratic standards. In 18 pages of some of the frankest international criticism of the system yet, the report finds its' main issue in of our clapped-out, anti-democratic electoral system . Let's dig in!

 The report states that "The EOM finds that the method for seat distribution in the States Assembly is not consistent with the principle of the equality of the vote due to significant differences in vote weight from one parish to another for the election of Connétables". Gosh, you say, didn't the Clothier report make the exact same conclusion nearly two decades ago? Indeed it did! 18 years after the original report was written, its recommendations have been left summarily ignored. The Senators and Connétables remain in the States, the electoral system as a whole remains unreformed and undemocratic. The report doesn't hold back on this issue, at all - it accuses the continued presence of Connétables in the States of "challenging fundamental principles for democratic participation in a modern society, exacerbated by the fact that they frequently stand unopposed". Bang on. Look, I get why people are opposed to the Connétables leaving the States - it's seen as an erosion of the parish system, et cetera. Democracy is simply more important. I'm a localist - I love my parish and I'm proud to be St. Ouennais. Strengthening parish identity is crucial to building the libertarian socialism that I believe in, but that isn't done by packing our elected "Father of the Parish" off to St. Helier to play-act as a politician for three days a week. Connétables need to be brought out of the States to focus on doing their best for their own parishes, and leave the shenanigans of politics to the Deputies.

It's simply irrefutable at this point that Jersey can't continue to pretend to be a democracy while the Connétables remain States members. Most stand unopposed, facing no election whatsoever, representing populations ranging from a few thousand to forty thousand. The system is broken and reform would be so simple, if only the Assembly would get on with it.

So let's do that.

Let's get on with it.

The full report can be found here.