Memorandum by Debatewise
SUBMISSION TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS INQUIRY:
PEOPLE AND PARLIAMENT
Debatewise.com welcomes the opportunity to help
the inquiry into how the House of Lords could relate better to
the public. Debatewise is a non-profit debating website which
aims to become the Wikipedia for debate. Because we are based
on the wiki model, anyone can add or edit debates and points within
those debates. We keep our editing to an absolute minimum (i.e
just filtering out abusive language) so the content of the site
really is the opinions of the public on the issues that matter
to them. We help the public form and engage in debates online,
and we see a substantial connection between our activities and
the aims of the Lords in terms of relating to the public. It is
for this reason that we believe our evidence to be useful to the
Inquiry and are delighted with the opportunity to participate.
1. HOUSE OF
LORDS OUTREACH
PROGRAMME
1.1 Debatewise supports the efforts being
made by the House of Lords through its outreach programme. We
applaud any attempt to provide greater information and transparency
about the parliamentary process and the role that the House of
Lords plays in this.
1.2 The appointment of a dedicated programme
co-ordinator provides a valuable central point of contact, whilst
web and other online activities enable people who may hitherto
have felt disengaged to better understand how decisions taken
on their behalf, are made. For example, the posts on the Lords
of the Blog inform people about the day to day activities of Lords
as well as issues they are involved in.
2. SUGGESTED
EXPANSION OF
THE OUTREACH
PROGRAM
2.1 The House of Lords outreach to schools
has made progress in improving the accessibility of the House
of Lords. So far, however, the program has been of limited scope
in terms of age range. University students take great interest
in current affairs and have the time to fully engage in discussion
around themuniversities are often hives of political activityyet
this appears to remain untapped.
2.2 Of the Debatewise team of volunteer political
content writers, 38 out of 40 are full-time university students
from across the country. This demonstrates a conscious nationwide
effort on the part of this age bracket to engage in debates and
participate in society. Between 18 and 21 young people form opinions
and behaviour patterns that stay with them for the rest of their
lives, so it is important to instil in them a desire for political
engagement. The House of Lords should be maximizing this potential
by visiting universities and otherwise engaging with this demographic
at every opportunity.
3. HAVING ACCESS
TO INFORMATION
IMPROVES UNDERSTANDING
AND CREATES
REASSURANCE
3.1 A great deal of information about the
House of Lords is accessible online, however at Debatewise we
believe that the provision of information online is only one part
of the equation. The rise of web 2.0 technologies both in terms
of innovation and popularity, points to the need for a more pro-active
shift in thinking about how parliament can, and, in our opinion
should, engage with the wider public and young people in particular.
3.2 Our experience at Debatewise shows that the
communication preferences for young people revolve around technology.
The popularity of web 2.0 functionalities shows that young people
often feel more comfortable expressing their opinions via websites
and other types of technologically-based social interaction than
they do face to face, and we foresee many opportunities for the
House of Lords to capitalize on that.
4. ONLINE DEBATE
AS A
WAY TO
ENGAGE PEOPLE
AND INCREASE
PARTICIPATION
4.1 At Debatewise we believe young people
disengage from society only when they feel powerless over it.
In order to increase their participation in politics we need to
give them the sense that their views matter, that they can be
effective and that they can change things. Debatewise achieves
this by teaching them debating skillsvaluable transferable
skills they can use articulate themselves effectively in all arenas.
They can then express their views in a way they know will be understood,
which reinforces the sense that these opinions will be listened
to and acted upon by their peers, by society at large, or both.
4.2 Many young people would profess no interest
in a chamber debate, yet regularly engage in heated online debates
about the same issues. Debatewise gets over 650 visits a day from
people like this. We think this is for two main reasons:
4.3 Firstly, debates online give anyone
an outlet for their views, not just nominated speakers or experts.
Most people have an opinion on current affairs issues, but not
everyone has a place where they can voice it, freely, to others.
The fact that this can be done anonymously on the internet means
even the most shy amongst us would be willing to say their piece.
4.4 Secondly, these young people state they
are attracted to debating online because the anonymity of the
internet is a great leveller. The anonymity means that those who
read views do so without prejudice or undue weight attached to
those views. For the House of Lords this makes online debate very
beneficial as people feel that whilst politicians may not listen
to their views offline, the internet allows them to fully engage
in a debate where their views are heard.
4.5 An even more effective way to empower
people would be with an open and transparent feedback mechanism
into political forums. We are working with the House of Lords
on a system where debates created by schools on our training program
will link with scheduled debates in the House. The issues would
be debated online by young people before the event and the results
could be cited by speakers as evidence. This would go a way towards
de-mystifying the political process for the young people involved:
the Lords would become infinitely more accessible and transparent
to them, and there would be an obvious pathway from the voicing
of their opinions, to the Lords' consideration of their views.
4.6 We feel this scheme would be a really
positive step towards engaging school children by assuring them
their voice matters. If it is successful we would like to extend
it to a wider audience, and deepen the connection with the Lords.
Perhaps through a designated part of the site (freely accessible
to the general public) that hosts debates on issues scheduled
to be discussed in the House.
4.7 Outlined below we have put together
two case studies from our experience in online debating. These
illustrate how Debatewise provides a platform for the wider public
to voice their opinions and we hope these studies may help to
demonstrate how the Lords could capitalise on online engagement.
5. CASE STUDY:
DEBATE 807 "TORTURE
SHOULD BE
ALLOWED AGAINST
TERROR SUSPECTS"
5.1 This case study demonstrates the need
of the public for more ways to engage in meaningful debate about
issues that affect them, and their willingness to do so online.
The debate was created on 20 April 2009 and at time of writing
[1 May 2009] is currently the top link to appear on Google
when "torture against terror suspects" is entered.
Contributors have created a total of four points in favour and
three points against the argument in the space of just over two
weeks (see figs 1 and 2).
Figure 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF POINTS MADE ON TORTURE
DEBATE

5.2 The points were quickly answered by counterarguments
(see fig 2), demonstrating how lively, intelligent debates
about topical issues canand willrapidly flourish
online, and that this is a fantastic way for the House of Lords
to engage the public.
Figure 2
EXAMPLE OF POINT (LEFT) AND COUNTERPOINT
ADDED AGAINST IT (RIGHT)

6. CASE STUDY
2: DEBATE 137 "SPACE
EXPLORATION IS
A WASTE
OF MONEY"
6.1 This case study is an example of two
other key functions of our online debates. Although Debatewise
aims to encourage participation and engagement, people also use
us as a resource to become better informed, and, ultimately, make
up their minds on an issue. This is of interest because it provides
an example of how the House of Lords could increase transparency
(see 6.3) and also gain feedback (see 6.4)
6.2 Our debate on space exploration was created
on 9 April and since then it has had 2,000 page views. Whilst
this is not remarkable for a web page, the unusually high average
"time on page" for these visitors (05:6 minutes) suggests
that people are reading and digesting the arguments thoroughly
before making a decision on the issue. Visitors are invited to
vote on the issue and this acts as a way of gauging public opinion.
On this particular topic 38% agree that space exploration is a
"waste of money" (see fig 3.)
Figure 3
VOTE TOTALS FOR THE SPACE EXPLORATION DEBATE

6.3 The idea that people are increasingly
coming to view debates online, in order to make up their minds
is applicable to the Lords in terms transparency. If the arguments
put forth by speakers in Lords debates were displayed online in
this accessible fashion, this would do wonders for the image of
the House of Lords as an open and transparent institution.
6.4 In turn, becoming more transparent and
having a higher profile would, of course, encourage people to
engage further with the House of Lords' activities. The engagement
itself would be made easier (as there is a simple voting system)
and thus there would be a very simple mechanism for gaining feedback
and public opinion on debates.
6.5 The best way to maximise public engagement
with the Lords would be to combine online and real world debates.
If pre, mid and post debates were run online alongside a debate
in the Lords, people would be able to comment and give their opinions
at all stages of the process. The Lords already televises some
debates so the live streaming of debates on the internetwith
an arena for public inputis the logical next step.
6.6 Although online opinion polls can often
be unreliable, as they are accessible to all and thus open to
unfair practice, at Debatewise we have overcome this through introducing
a privacy facility, thus restricting who can vote (if necessary).
7. CONCLUSION
7.1 To date the House of Lords' attempts
to engage and involve the public have been very successful. Through
school visits and online presence the Lords has reduced it's reputation
for being a slightly outdated or inaccessible institution, by
showing it is focussing on youth and is in touch with changing
media. Despite the progress made so far there is still much more
that can be done, both with youth (especially the university age
bracket) and online (through utilising the phenomenon of online
debate).
7.3 We hope that through the evidence we have
submitted Debatewise has demonstrated the pressing need to engage
and interact with young people online and also presented potential
avenues for doing so. Thank you for the opportunity to contribute
to this Inquiry and we wish you the best of luck with your findings.
May 2009
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