As it thrashes around about leadership, Labor is also searching for a pitch
to distinguish it from the Coalition and appeal to "swingers" as well as
the traditional heartland.
A big ask, a large task. Those thinking about "whither Labor" might seek
some succour in the recent Chifley lecture, delivered by Matthew Taylor, a
former assistant general-secretary of the British Labour Party and director
of a British centre-left think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research.
Taylor's prescription for a modern centre-left party is to rethink its
"political story", to present a "practical utopia, a vision of universal
citizenship in the good society".
Today's public, he says, "simultaneously want stronger leadership but . . .
more responsiveness".
Disturbingly, a Gallup Poll late last year of 47,000 respondents in 36
countries, which asked people to rate 20 institutions, found everywhere
that people gave the lowest rating to "the primary democratic institution"
- parliament and government. "Even more worrying" was that the two most
popular institutions were the armed forces and environmental NGOs.
People are fleeing the old forms of authority, collective decision-making
and politics. But they're "vulnerable to populist authority, to
authoritarian authority, to subversive forms of authority".
The pursuit of "citizenship" as the ultimate goal would replace the old
"core pursuit" of the left - social equality, which would become the means
to the "citizenship" end.
This raises questions about the areas in which inequality is most injurious
to citizenship, Taylor says.
Citizenship means people need the capacity to do things - thus the
importance of assets in empowering people (also a theme of ALP frontbencher
Mark Latham).
Inequalities often emerge in a child's first year, raising difficult but
important issues such as the emotional relationship between parents and
children, and the emotional wellbeing of parents.
Tackling inequality, raising low expectations, generating hope and
promoting citizenship go beyond simply providing better schools and
hospitals. For instance, arts, culture and public space policies,
previously seen as peripheral, can also be effective tools.
Taylor identifies as among the central weaknesses of present politics:
� What's been dubbed the "hotdog" problem. This arises when politics
becomes removed from ideology without that being replaced by a vivid
account of values, so the battle becomes primarily a tactical process of
maximising market share. People get "two hotdog stands crammed together
selling exactly the same goods but possibly putting the mustard and tomato
sauce in slightly different places on the counter".
� Political parties are in decline in most countries but their control
over the system, including entry, doesn't decline. "As the hand withers, it
squeezes harder and harder upon the capacity of our democracy to breathe."
What's needed is to "create 100 different ways in which our citizens can
get engaged, get involved, can feel a sense of ownership and commitment to
decision making, to collective action".
The catch for the politicians is that they can't just pretend - they have
to really cede some power, or people will be further alienated.
Taylor also suggests public services should be redesigned to renew and
reinforce civil society, for example by handing some of them to community
ownership.
Some will see this as so much pie-in-sky, but Taylor's ideas will resonate
with many ordinary people, probably on the right as well as the left, who
are disillusioned with the "same old, same old" they hear from those wooing
their vote. For Labor, they're worth a good read.
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/05/1049459857093.html
