Jonathan Carr-West, head of the Centre for Local Democracy at the Local Government Information Unit spoke on the 26th Feb 2009 to members of an Action Learning Set exploring youth participation and social networking sites.

1. Democracy and participation Jonathan Carr-West Head of Centre for Local Democracy

3. Representative v. direct democracy Your Representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion. […] Government and Legislation are matters of reason and judgement, and not of inclination; and what sort of reason is that, in which the determination precedes the discussion; in which one set of men deliberate, and another decide; and where those who form the conclusion are perhaps three hundred miles distant from those who hear the arguments? Edmund Burke

11. Some tools for participation

13. “ To man with a hammer everything looks like a nail” Mark Twain “ If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six hours sharpening my axe.” Abraham Lincoln