What rights do we have?
Since post-war times, cities in the west have overwhelmingly been defined by top-down civil and democratic structures that meet the governmental agendas for what society needs. This is opposed to the undemocratic visions of monarchy and empire that preceded it. As taxation increased to working populations and there were means and controls of collecting taxes, governments began to fund, build, and plan how cities were intended to function.
“Trauma stemming from exposure to contaminants like air pollution, inadequate housing and psychosocial stressors also creates systemic biological and cellular changes. For example, it can change our gut bacteria environment, which has implications for obesity (source). In cases of acute trauma, some can experience PTSD, which creates neurobiological abnormalities which alters the function of various biological systems, this too has implications for obesity (source). The link between obesity and trauma also provides a wide ecological scope to understand the different determinants of a disease that is complex and not just a lifestyle choice.”
The simple function of our democratic politics is that we elect councillors to oversee and advocate for our hyper local agendas and members of parliament to represent our wider place based interests in the House of Commons on matters of national interest. Politicians endeavour to listen to what their constituents want, put forward a plan of representation, and are voted in or not, sometimes out. Once in power, it’s their job to deliver on the plan and represent (all) their people when Acts of Parliament are debated and introduced. This is technically where our legal standings of power begin and end.
The political industrial complex has expanded since 1869 yet all that has expanded for the populace is who can vote when they turn 18 years of age. Politics is a complex ecosystem of committees, sub-committees, parliamentary groups, and other associations, that aim to balance the interests of the government, the economy - and those that fund the economy, foreign affairs, and the population. There are multiple layers of government, governance and bureaucracy. Within these dynamics there are multiple layers of influence, some of which is democratic but many layers have little population input of power.
Our rights focus on our capacity to vote, to organise, and to feedback.
VOTING
Our primary right is the capacity to vote and advocate for those who represent our agendas. Therefore, it is critical to identify which people in political establishments (a) have a history aligned with your efforts, and (b) what their current agendas are. The consistency of their history will help determine whether they are genuine of whether you may end up getting used for short term political gain. A great resource to explore this is https://www.theyworkforyou.com/.
In general you can vote for:
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Councillors provide a bridge between the community and the council. As well as being an advocate for local residents and signposting them to the right people at the council, councillors need to keep local residents informed about the issues that affect them. Councils need clear strategies and policies to enable them to achieve their vision for the area, make the best use of resources and deliver services that meet the needs of local communities. Councillors contribute to the development of these policies and strategies, bringing the views and priorities of the local area to the debate. How this happens depends on the committees and forums they are appointed to. However, the council’s policy framework must be signed off by full council, on which every councillor sits. Councils are not just service providers; they also act as regulators. Councillors may be appointed to sit on the planning and regulatory committee – considering issues such as planning applications, licences for pubs and restaurants and ensuring that businesses comply with the law. In these roles, councillors are required to act independently and are not subject to the group or party whip. Most councils arrange special training for this.
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The Leader is the most senior member of the council. They lead the decision-making process and direct strategic policy and budget setting. The Leader chairs the Cabinet, appoints its members and assigns portfolios to individual Cabinet members. They have overall responsibility for the Vision and Corporate Objectives of the Council and for ensuring their achievement. They are the principal political spokesperson for the Council and have overall responsibility for representing its views to the public and all organisations with whom the Council has contact.
For more on how Council’s organise click here.
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MPs can offer advice and assistance on matters for which the UK Parliament is responsible, such as benefits, UK-wide tax and national insurance, immigration issues, energy, defence, and data protection. MPs cannot interfere in court decisions and are unlikely to be able to help with private disputes. MPs and members of the Lords can usually only help with issues that are the responsibility of the UK Parliament. Often the right person to contact will be a local councillor, the Citizens Advice or an ombudsman. Depending on the issue, if you live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland you may need to contact your MSPs, MSs or MLAs.
You can contact your MP or a member of the House of Lords when: you want them to raise an issue in Parliament or press the Government for action; you want them to support or oppose a particular Government policy; you are not happy with the way your complaint has been handled by a government-run service or department.
Democracy, however, is only concerned with the Legislature branch of government. There are two others instrumental in how cities are formed. The Executive branch is represented by the Prime Minister and their cabinet, whilst the Judiciary branch is responsible for interpreting laws, resolving disputes, and ensuring the rule of law. The latter has little democratic oversight but high ethics*.
*Whilst one can argue that the Judiciary system is governed by ethics, many of these ethics have been developed under a white supremacy epistemology. The history of law in Britain has been developed over time under foundational beliefs of hierarchy, supremacy (over Nature and People), on land and property rights and ownership, and ultimately a multi-century history of colonisation, chattel slavery, and ecocide. Therefore, the core of its ethics can be questioned.
What does this mean?
Local councillors are your cheerleaders.
Council leaders are your local deal- and peace-makers.
MPs are your older siblings meant to look out for you.
This means that your actions to them need to meet their capacities to you.
ORGANISING
In democracies we are granted the right to organise and act within the means of the law. Everyday people organising has led to the weekend, employment hours, civil rights and child exploitation laws. Every successful movement in history has included grassroots organising and leadership. The Ayni Institute and Movement Ecology (2017) said that “grassroots forces have been most effective when they have harnessed both the power of organization and the power of widespread defiance”.
Civic Power Fund director Martha Mackenzie writes that “organising encourages us to listen to each other, build reciprocal relationships, and find common cause in the pursuit of change.”
Organising has a long history in social change. It is a critical tool to advancing our rights. It is also a means to ensure equitable access and relationship dynamics with political leaders and institutions. Business interests have always been well organised. Lobbying has been an effective tool to ensure that either ideological or financial interests are prioritised when politicians make decisions. It is critical therefore that an equal and opposite force is met.
Within politics there are various means to engage with political figures who sit on committees or groups. The greater your voice, the greater you can be heard, and be in the room and at the table - if that’s your goal. Organising increases access to spaces such as All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG). APPGs are informal cross-party groups that have no official status within Parliament but are places in which conversations take place to advance legislation and Acts of Parliament. They are run by and for Members of the Commons and Lords, though many choose to involve individuals and organisations from outside Parliament in their administration and activities. As of February 2025 there are 340 topical APPG groups covering issues from Water Pollution to Scotch Whiskey to the Future of Work. By default these spaces are highly political, meaning that other agendas may be at play and are not places for political novices. However, they can be influential in advancing issues that are of national interest to which you can support.
FEEDING BACK
Consultation is a powerful place to exercise our rights. However, it is a place of contention for many.
Some have argued that community engagement methods are predetermined by organisers to suit their advantage, leaving many feeling used and extracted from. Successes have often occurred where those leading engagements hold deep, meaningful relations with community people and can facilitate in a non-harming way.
The UK government actively encourages community engagement in order to bring about social equity (see guidance here). However, it’s always the “how” not the “what” that is important. If citizen assemblies, forums, and other top-down directed methods of engagement and feedback are systemically unfair and silence the voices of well meaning, yet highly concerned and frustrated people, then it’s important to address these matters.
Governments, regulators, consultants, and policy writers are not always right. We know this. They try to align multiple, often conflicting, agendas and (despite some views) are humans like the rest of us. This means that whilst it’s important to respect laws, policies, and procedures, there is nothing saying that you cannot redesign how a process can be delivered. This course is centred around the development of Health Impact Assessments (HIA) as a means to reflect this. Whilst governments adopt NGO guidance of implementing HIAs across policy, it is not a fixed template.
If you want something done right, show how it can be done. Show your intelligence. Politicians and much of the political institution find it easier to act on existing models that they can deploy, rather than create new ones themselves - they simply do not have the capacity unless they are a ministerial department with a large civil service team.