Democracy: The Uncomfortable Reality

The uncomfortable reality that is unpalatable to some people is that the solution to any problem is not going to please everyone or as the headline on the BBC article puts it "Blanket policies just don't fit".

This article tell us about one woman's experience when she attended a Downing street forum where 60 citizens attended to discus policy decisions. The information gathered from what in reality could be described as a focus group is then fed back to the cabinet.

The 60 people were spilt up into small group with a government mentor whose role seems to be to ask reality check questions and record the discussions.

It quickly became obvious that there were some uncomfortable realities for government and democracy.

• The 80/20 rule: This group found that the best way to take a decision was that if 80% of the group felt it was a good idea then it could go ahead leaving 20% of the group disagreeing.
  Scale this up and it is easier to see how protest groups become so large, they are the 20% that we cant please. If we gave them what they wanted there would be another 20% and so on and so fourth.
• Leadership and communication: Rather than increase public involvement people prefer good leaders who communicate effectively.
  In reality this suggests that people are happy to let people drive public policy if they are seen to be a good leader and members of the public feel they are kept well informed. There is also reason to believe that if the public is better informed then they may be more tolerant when things don't quite go according to plan.
  This may be why "Teflon Reid" does better than most labour ministers, his communication skills and interview technique are good even those his departmental results are often very poor.
• Want more services / don't really want to pay for it: this is the age old problem, the group were asked to debate whether they wanted more police officers on the streets. Strangely enough everyone said yes. Then the mentor interjected and posed the question "Are you willing to pay for it?". After much shuffling of feet the answer came out as "Not really".
  This is what we as the general public always do, we talk about how rubbish services are but refuse to pay any more taxes towards them. Part of the answer has been ring fencing, a certain tax increase goes to a certain project or department budget such as National Insurance which is used to support the Welfare state.
  Of course ring-fencing cant really be extended to a basket of taxes where you pick and choose which ones you support. In the same way that we cast a vote and give politicians free reign with defined limits to govern we have to give the government our tax pound and trust them to spend it wisely and in the best interests of the majority and the UK.
  Alternatively it is often said that government is inefficient and that's where the money can come from. Again that is part of the solution but you have to trust people that when they say they cant make that much in savings you have to give them more money.
  At some point down the line new services will need new money
  

These forums are seen as more spin by critics but it gets people talking about politics and helps bridge the gap between the electorate and the elected. There is also the chance that politicians who are often said to be detached from the realities of life will learn something new and then that something can be adopted as policy.

This kind of group discussion is the kind of thing that I would expect the new citizenship lessons for school children to cover. I hope they will have such opportunities to learn about the mechanics of Democracy, warts and all.