Author Archives: James Dennison

James Dennison

Britain has too much government and too little democratic power

By James Dennison | Tue 15th September 2026 - 1:30 pm

Britain has accumulated government without accumulating democratic power. A citizen trying to discover who is responsible for a major decision can now encounter ministers, councils, combined authorities, mayors, regulators, agencies, commissioners and public-private partnerships—often with overlapping responsibilities and no obvious person whom an election can remove. 

This is not simply a problem of having too much government. It is a problem of power becoming difficult to see and therefore difficult to control. The liberal answer is neither centralisation nor another wave of institutional invention, but to make the state smaller where possible, stronger where necessary, and democratic wherever public power is exercised. Ten Liberal Democrat policies could begin that process. 

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Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 11 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Peter Chambers
    I quite agree with Caron. My son obtained a Statement for special educational needs. He was put on a queue, but never had quite enough points to be given a slot...
  • Jana
    Speaking from my personal experience (Scotland), I think we need to be saying something about reforming the way the Children’s Panel system currently operates...
  • Jans
    Speaking from my personal experience (Scotland), I think we need to be saying something about reforming the way the Children’s Panel system currently operates...
  • Mick Taylor
    @Rose Runwick. I voted against merger and I still believe that the 6 years wasting our time dealing with the SDP stopped dead the expansion of the Liberal Party...
  • Rose Runswick
    Thanks for this Caron, and you are right, I hear so much about my generation not getting our hands dirty, but I know many people who run as many as three jobs j...