“If the people are not utterly degraded, although individually they may be worse judges than those who have special knowledge, as a body they are as good or better.” Aristotle
If you're someone who watches select committee hearings on Parliament TV (I confess I am), you might have noticed an intriguing backdrop to proceedings in the Thatcher Room at Portcullis House. Recently, while watching an evidence session of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee (PACAC), I was struck by the relevance of the artwork – a tapestry called Democracy, by Pat Taylor – to current debates here on Brexit and the role of Parliament.
If you're someone who watches select committee hearings on Parliament TV (I confess I am), you might have noticed an intriguing backdrop to proceedings in the Thatcher Room at Portcullis House. Recently, while watching an evidence session of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee (PACAC), I was struck by the relevance of the artwork – a tapestry called Democracy, by Pat Taylor – to current debates here on Brexit and the role of Parliament.
Pat Taylor, Democracy I, http://pat-taylor.com/democracy.php
Taylor, a weaver who was formerly Director of the Tapestry Studio at West Dean College, was commissioned in 1999 by Parliament's Advisory Commission on Works of Art to design two tapestries: Democracy I and Democracy II. Each took about 11 months to make, in the studios at West Dean. It is the first of the two tapestries that graces the Thatcher Room at Portcullis House, hanging behind the Committee chair in hearings on the relationship between citizen and state, the bread and butter of PACAC proceedings.
These days, in what Julian Baggini has called 'the rise of degenerative democracy', demands that the will of 'the people' must be enacted have led to our constitutional crisis over Brexit in the UK and the demagoguery of President Trump in the US. Populist parties are on the rise throughout the world, threatening the protection of minority rights and interests and norms of good governance and accountability.
These days, in what Julian Baggini has called 'the rise of degenerative democracy', demands that the will of 'the people' must be enacted have led to our constitutional crisis over Brexit in the UK and the demagoguery of President Trump in the US. Populist parties are on the rise throughout the world, threatening the protection of minority rights and interests and norms of good governance and accountability.
Pat Taylor, Democracy I, http://pat-taylor.com/democracy.php
Exploring the place of people and their representatives in a parliamentary democracy., Taylor uses both text and imagery within her tapestries as social and political commentary. In Democracy I, a composite image shows both mirrored and blurred people as a metaphor for debate. The text is based on responses to letters she sent to a random selection of 300 MPs, asking them to provide a definition of democracy on an enclosed postcard and return it to her. The responses were illuminating. Many quoted Abraham Lincoln; former Labour MP Ken Livingston wrote that democracy is the right to vote for him as Mayor of London; one referred to 'endless talking'. It's a sad reflection on the quality of some of our representatives that 20 MPs said they were too busy and didn't have time to define democracy. A selection of the most frequently used words in the responses was incorporated into the bottom half of the weaving, in different sizes and colours, running like film credits of keywords of democratic engagement: 'equality', 'participation', 'suffrage', 'consent', 'accountable'.
Taylor says that some people, including MPs, were baffled why Aristotle's name appears in the tapestry. Some MPs may have included Aristotle in their responses, but also Taylor's intention was to reflect her understanding that Aristotle considered democracy, for all its flaws, as the best form of government, that if individuals pool their virtues they are better at governing as a whole than a few elites. A useful reminder at times like these, when little 'virtue' is on display and it is a few elites who have brought the people and our democracy to this sorry impasse. But linking Aristotle and democracy is problematic; aside from the fact that entire parts of the population were excluded from governing, and today his prescription of government by the virtuous can be read as both elitist and as fuel to populist calls for direct rule of the majority.
For some, the referendum on the EU in 2016 was sold as an opportunity to restore Parliamentary sovereignty; its result is now being used to undermine the role of Parliament. As Julian Baggini notes, 'the constitutional obstacles that stand between the expression of the people’s will and its enacting are actually the best protection we have against the tyranny of the many over the few, or of leaders who claim to represent all while really standing only for themselves.'
Taylor says that some people, including MPs, were baffled why Aristotle's name appears in the tapestry. Some MPs may have included Aristotle in their responses, but also Taylor's intention was to reflect her understanding that Aristotle considered democracy, for all its flaws, as the best form of government, that if individuals pool their virtues they are better at governing as a whole than a few elites. A useful reminder at times like these, when little 'virtue' is on display and it is a few elites who have brought the people and our democracy to this sorry impasse. But linking Aristotle and democracy is problematic; aside from the fact that entire parts of the population were excluded from governing, and today his prescription of government by the virtuous can be read as both elitist and as fuel to populist calls for direct rule of the majority.
For some, the referendum on the EU in 2016 was sold as an opportunity to restore Parliamentary sovereignty; its result is now being used to undermine the role of Parliament. As Julian Baggini notes, 'the constitutional obstacles that stand between the expression of the people’s will and its enacting are actually the best protection we have against the tyranny of the many over the few, or of leaders who claim to represent all while really standing only for themselves.'
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