Posted on April 2, 2009 by Paul Evans
So much is changing so quickly. Newspapers and broadcasters are changing. Governments now communicate using radically different means to the ones that were practiced a decade ago. Here’s Exhibit A.
We now have free interactive tools that enable us to hold huge multilateral conversations based upon collaborative filtering and reputation management. We can find useful strangers [...]
Filed under: Centralisation, Obstacles for democrats to overcome, Political parties, Web 2.0 and democracy | Tagged: Decentralisation | No Comments »
Posted on March 26, 2009 by Anthony Zacharzewski
Given all the talk of localism in recent months, it is pretty disappointing to see Caroline Spelman, the Conservative shadow Local Government minister, making the following statement (via the BBC) on Council Tax rises:
At a time when millions of workers are facing pay freezes or unemployment this year, it adds insult to injury to drive [...]
Filed under: Conservatives, Council services, Democratic renewal, Political parties | No Comments »
Posted on March 18, 2009 by Paul Evans
OK, in recent posts, I’ve moaned about the demands for political transparency that are being fuelled by new interactive media applications. Let me try and put this into some perspective:
In my opening ‘defending political parties‘ post, I acknowledged that there are a few early knockout punches that could be delivered to the argument that political [...]
Filed under: Political parties, Transparency | 4 Comments »
Posted on March 10, 2009 by Paul Evans
This blog is here to explore the concept of a more inclusive means of forming policy at a local level. So let me offer you two examples of the kind of people that we need to include in such processes.
Our first case in point - let’s call her Mrs Meldrew (though it’s not really a [...]
Filed under: Consultations, Conversational localities, Political parties | 5 Comments »
Posted on March 8, 2009 by Paul Evans
There’s a very good article over at Westminster Wisdom about the longevity of the US two-party system - a dominance of only two largely unchanged political parties since 1860 - “a record unmatched by any other Democracy.”
A comparison with the UK, in which the period from 1945 until the late 1960s marked a fairly rigid [...]
Filed under: Political parties, Voting systems | Tagged: Class deallignment, Electoral reform, Partisan deallignment | 1 Comment »
Posted on March 4, 2009 by Anthony Zacharzewski
Time for one last look at the Conservative party’s local government green paper Shift Control. A quick canter through chapters four and five, and then some conclusions.
Chapter Four is about spending. It says a Conservative Government will:
give local people greater control over how central government funds are spent in their area;
phase out ring fencing, [...]
Filed under: Conservatives, Council services, Councillors, Mayors, Political parties | No Comments »
Posted on March 1, 2009 by Anthony Zacharzewski
Time for a look at Chapter three of the Conservative local government green paper, Shift Control.
This chapter is the section of the green paper that focuses on democracy, so there’s a lot to talk about. The chapter says that a Conservative Government would:
provide citizens in all our large cities with the opportunity to choose [...]
Filed under: Conservatives, Council services, Councillors, Deliberative democracy, Direct democracy, Elections, Mayors, Political parties, Unelected agencies | No Comments »
Posted on February 25, 2009 by Anthony Zacharzewski
Part three of a series of articles looking at the Conservative local government green paper, Shift Control.
This time, chapter two. This chapter is about localism, and promises that a Conservative Government would:
give local residents the power to determine the balance between the level of council tax and the level of services
delivered;
drastically reduce the centrally imposed [...]
Filed under: Conservatives, Conversational localities, Councillors, Direct democracy, Elections, Political parties, Public administration | No Comments »
Posted on February 19, 2009 by Anthony Zacharzewski
Part two of a series of articles on the Conservative green paper on local government, which are also appearing on the Democratic Society blog.
Section one of the green paper discusses local housing and economic growth. The Conservatives’ proposals are:
enable local authorities to benefit financially when they deliver the housing that local people need;
give local [...]
Filed under: Centralisation, Councillors, Political parties, Public administration | No Comments »
Posted on February 18, 2009 by Anthony Zacharzewski
Local decision-making should be less constrained by central government, and also more accountable to local people. We will encourage democratic innovations in local government, including pilots of the idea of elected mayors with executive powers in cities.
David Cameron’s green paper Shift Control, published yesterday? No, the 1997 Labour manifesto, and if you want a good [...]
Filed under: Council services, Councillors, Democratic renewal, Mayors, Political parties | No Comments »
Posted on February 10, 2009 by Paul Evans
I’ve got a half-written post in the drafts folder on this subject - it’s not ready to see the light of day yet.
But looking at a post on the blog of Tom Harris MP about the need for political parties, I can’t resist recalling the late great Bernard Crick’s favourite Goebbells quote:
“Political parties exist to [...]
Filed under: Political parties | 3 Comments »
