The final day of the ICLS European seminar was delivered by Dr. Sarah Perrigo of the University of Bradford’s Department of Peace Studies with Heather Blakey leading the more participatory workshops. The talks that Sarah delivered were incredibly detailed and the activities that Heather led enabled us to get our minds around the complexities of citizenship, what it means to be part of a democracy and explore our relationship to the state.

A key aspect for me revolved around the question, ‘can anyone ever truly represent you?’. I don’t think anyone can ever really represent anyone but themselves, but that is not what we are asking our MPs to do. We are asking them to make a judgement on our behalf.

My frustration about democracy is that many citizens seem to stop at putting a cross on a piece of paper and then putting it in a box, and unfortunately many politicians only expect this of people. Whilst being able to vote is extremely important, this does not mean we ‘are in’ a democracy. Democracy is not a state, it is a process.

This message encourages me that the ICLS network is important for citizen engagement, as everyone involved in ICLS becomes more aware of the social issues in their region and seeks to make changes. Whilst we delegate some decision-making authority to parliament, we should not assume that change only takes place in Westminster. It can take place here, now, if we pull together and get on with it.