Sometime, one needs to go a distance to gain the right perspective. And a recent visit to the US provided an appropriate antidote to the recent soul-searching regarding parliamentary expenses and the impact on our democracy.In a nutshell, Americans have a realistic view about the weaknesses of their politicians, but match this with a fundamental respect for the democratic process and elected office. There are certainly lessons to learn from the US about how politicians are brought to account by the electorate.For local government, however, the current scandal presents a real opportunity to re-state the case for local democracy and decision-making. Rather than waiting for national politicians to come up with their solutions on how to regain public trust, lefs put forward our ideas and have them debated.
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