Whatever the outcome of the 4th of July elections, our political system is currently far from bathed in glory. Dr David Cliff reflects on the dilemmas facing the 'ordinary' citizen.
Sir John Curtice is quite clear that mistrust of politicians is at an all-time high, and that as many as six out of ten of the public believe that politicians will put party interests over the national interest.
Our political system is populated by people whose motivations can range from seeking to access power, participating in various forms of tribalism, seeking to be a force for change amongst others, including increasingly single theme motivations such as nationalism or immigration and balancing self-interest and altruism in ways that are often hard for the public to sift. Increasingly we see a trend to have younger politicians who often lack statecraft yet have meteoric careers wherein they are over reliant upon some form of political ideology. They often lack the lived experience of understanding governments’ relationship with the people longitudinally.
What we see in the political system reflects what we see in the world. Postmodern forces are evident, where the self-interests of the individual are foremost, and the abandonment of traditional roles and rituals are secondary to self-expression. Equally, ‘neo-liberalism’ now supersedes ‘social liberalism’ by assuming simple ideologies about the growth of the market and the belief that as the pool of economic growth fills, so everyone is floated up by it. The problem is many people in our communities are already drowning, unable to compete and be participative in society. If one needs an example and there are many, read the studies of the clear social disadvantage amongst young white working-class males who seem to be overlooked by all parties. We live with polarities of wealth and poverty, of those in influence and those who are disenfranchised and powerless.
More than ever the public is seeking electoral reform and whatever government ultimately manifests itself post July 4th, will have to begin to listen to the reality that the system is failing. The two-party first past the post, tribal polarities, with smaller parties not featuring, is frankly unhealthy. It leads to a divided state, fearing the far right, yet fearing the left even more. Even the centre is becoming just too nuanced to persuasively occupy. Indeed, so nuanced that there is a belief by some that the electorate cannot differentiate policies in that zone, hence we see policy extremes to enable party differentiation by voters, not necessarily what is needed or wanted by them. The start truth is, whoever achieves office, the country is so ‘maxed out’ on credit there is very little room to manoeuvre anyway.
We have lost the art of consensus, just as we have lost the centre. We will not get it back by continuing with a tribal approach to our political system. The system that gives rise to the ‘mother of all Parliaments’, is now very much in need of reform. She is aged, incontinent of privileges for the incompetent, dementing over the experience of ordinary folk and retain beliefs of yesteryear whilst embracing faddish novelty. Governments are now more reactive than ever. We only need to see the vicissitudes of the internet, the perversive impact of social media upon our young people’s mental health and the slowness of legislative response to this, to see a government that reacts when parents wind up on BBC television talking about the mass decease of their offspring.
For the people and of people? Let’s face it, both sides of the “pond” are increasingly in situations where people who would once be the subject of comic characters, can legitimately apply for the highest posts in the land. A place where the truth is now subject to manipulation with selective perception, plain lies and the use of AI and other systems that can distort information in ways that create uncertainty as to just what is real.
Small wonder there is apathy in the electorate. Indeed, 30% of the electorate turned out for the recent local elections and a low turnout is feared for the July 4th election. Indeed, with turnout figures so low, one question’s whether there is a ‘democratic deficit’ created by these minority turnouts and the true will of the people remains unheard.
If there was ever a system screaming for overhaul, it is the process that appoints and establishes governance to those who lead our country. None of us can be complacent in an increasingly unsafe world where serial crises seem increasingly subordinated to individual and party interests.
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