DO BETTER
Alas, too many are so intent on successful in any respect prices, they lose sight of what it’s all about.
What’s required is a elementary change in how politics is outlined, beginning with three redefinitions.
First, it’s not a zero-sum competitors the place I win provided that you lose, and the more serious your loss, the higher my win.
When politics is seen as such a contest between opposing sides, it might probably solely result in better division and disharmony, not simply between rivals however amongst their supporters.
If the final word function is to enhance lives and promote concord, politics should be seen as a collaborative effort involving as many individuals as potential within the society working in direction of a standard purpose.
Viewing it as a contest between opposing sides is the worst potential solution to obtain the frequent good.
This may appear troublesome to do due to the character of the primary past-the-post, winner-takes-all characteristic in most democracies however it’s exactly as a result of such a system promotes excessive behaviour by politicians that it must be moderated.
In any other case, there can be no restrict to what they are going to do for the reason that stakes are so excessive.
(It is usually why some international locations undertake a proportional illustration system, however that’s one other story.)
Second, it ought to by no means be seen as a do-or-die mission the place the destiny of the nation hangs within the steadiness and the alternate options imply the top of the world.
It’s nearly by no means such a dire selection besides maybe in failed states combating for survival.
However political leaders all the time over dramatise their aspirations and their indispensability.
Even in a secure democracy resembling France, when President Emmanuel Macron known as snap elections final 12 months, he argued that the nation confronted an existentialist disaster after his occasion misplaced badly to proper wing events within the European Union elections and that, if he didn’t act, it will descend into “chaos”.
Within the occasion, his gamble failed however I doubt if France is any worse or higher off than earlier than.
The presidential election within the US was additionally stuffed with such hyperbole, together with that it was about the way forward for democracy and the destiny of the world.
The difficulty with elevating the stakes to unrealistic heights is that it encourages an “something goes” strategy. If the way forward for mankind is at stake, how are you going to not go to the top of the world to attain your goals, authorized or not, morally right or in any other case?
It could possibly solely result in political corruption and excesses.
It additionally ignores all the opposite essential gamers in society, together with the non-public sector, non-government organisations and private and non-private establishments that contribute to the well-being of the nation.
This goes again to the primary level – when politics is seen as a collaborative effort and never a harmful competitors, there can be better recognition of different actors and their roles in reaching the purpose of bettering lives.
Politics is essential – and political leaders particularly – however you possibly can’t justify their significance by letting them outline every thing in their very own phrases. There are others who’re additionally vital and although they is probably not overtly political, they assist fulfil politics’ final function.
Third, the notion that politics is all about energy and what to do with it wants to vary.
Energy is, in fact, an integral a part of politics and when used to learn society can do huge good.
However how to make sure it does? There is no such thing as a manner of doing so and it’s usually the results of success (the precise chief on the proper time) than the rest.
When energy falls within the mistaken palms, it results in catastrophic penalties, as has occurred too usually in human historical past, leading to wars and violent civil conflicts.
