Welcome to The Democracy Forum

Welcome to the Democracy Forum - an online public space provided by The Hansard Society for the debate of issues concerning parliamentary democracy in the UK.

The Hansard Society promotes effective parliamentary democracy. It is an independent, non-partisan educational charity whose President is the Rt Hon. Betty Boothroyd MP, Speaker of the House of Commons. There are many issues concerning parliament, legislation and democratic citizenship which call for intelligent public debate. This web site is intended as one forum for that debate to take place. It is open to all citizens, but there are rules of debate which we ask all participants to follow. This is a monitored debate.

Debates taking place in the Democracy Forum will be the subject of research and evaluation as part of our Parliament and the Electronic Media programme. If you have comments about the form, style, content or value of the Democracy Forum, please let us know.

Uspeak is an online consultation collecting evidence for the Social Security Select Committee on tax credits, benefits, child-care and work incentives. If you have experience of living on a low income this is your opportunity to influence Parliament.

To register to participate in Uspeak call freephone 0800 014 4745 or click here. This is a secure site and you will need a username and password to enter.
The Hansard Society has established this Commission, chaired by Lord Newton of Braintree, to examine how effectively Parliament scrutinises the work of government and holds the executive to account for its actions. The Commission is taking evidence from a wide range of people. This discussion is a chance for anybody to make their contribution to the debate. Please click on the button to join in.
The Information Select Committee has been looking into the changes needed in the strategy for making Parliamentary information available to a wide range of users and took evidence via this Democracy Forum. The inputs to the discussions can be viewed in the archive by clicking here.
This Democracy Forum Discussion was set up with the All Party Committee on Domestic Violence and enquired into all aspects of domestic violence from the survivors themselves. The discussion is now complete and the evidence is being prepared to go to the Committee. The discussion remains here in a read only form but is available only to authorised visitors.
This Democracy Forum Discussion was set up with support from the Public Administration Select Committee and enquiring into all aspects of electronic democracy. The discussion is now complete and the evidence has been submitted to the Select Committee. The discussion remains here in a read only form but is available only to authorised visitors
If you think that there is an issue of this kind that should be debated in the Democracy Forum please do tell us.