000			01576pab a2200217 454500
008			180718b2005 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100			_aBlick, Andrew
245			_aDemocratic audit: good governance, human rights, war against terror
260			_c2005
300			_ap.408-23.
362			_aApr
520			_aMajor constitutional changes from the 1980s onwards have not generally been informed by a vision of good governance, constitutionality or democratic principle. The Labour government's reform programme since 1997 has retained central powers on which `elective dictatorship' or Jack Straw's `executive democracy' depends. This article surveys the largely unconstrained use of these powers in 2003, in particular the Prime Minister's decision to commit the UK to the invasion of Iraq. The article questions the legality of this decision, and the means of announcing it; points up the weakness of Parliament; expresses concerns about the central and unaccountable role of special advisers in No.10 Downing Street. It also examines the limited effects of the Human Rights act, surveys the Home Secretary's post-9/11 challenge to civil and political rights in the UK, considers the difficulties of protecting asylum-seekers from destitution, and reports on the proportionality and pluralism of the May devolved elections. - Reproduced.
650			_aTerrorism
650			_aHuman rights
650			_aGood governance
650			_aPublic administration
700			_aWeir, Stuart
700			_aByrne, Iain
773			_aParliamentary Affairs
909			_a66640
999			_c66640 _d66640