“The Young Foundation have released an interesting report today on British political party funding and the role of political parties.
Some of the key proposals include a cap on spending nationally, not just in elections, and a greater focus on political parties becoming development and leadership organisations, somewhat akin to charities, rather than just bodies focussed at winning elections.
The interesting question seemingly not dealt with in this work is the role of the internet. If political parties can’t spend as much on campaigning, then, whilst the report assumes this will push them towards doing less, it might just push them to look for efficiency savings on their campaigns, through greater use of new technology.
Some of this is already happening offline, better targeting of messages to voters, greater research to ensure maximum ‘bang for buck’, etc. But if a direct email can replace a direct mailing, if more information can be provided through the web, then the impact of the spending cap is likely to become lessened.
Of course, the Young Foundation report is unlikely to get implemented in full, but some manner of funding and spending change seems to be in the pipeline, and it will be interesting to see how political parties use the internet is formulating their response.”
“Over the last 20-30 years political parties have lost members, voters and trust. Some celebrate parties decline. This report argues that parties continue to have a vital role to play in making democracy work – and that neither voluntary organisations nor the media can adequately fulfil these roles. It shows that the big parties took a wrong turn in the 1980s and 1990s by adopting a model that is more centralised, more centred on marketing and advertising, and more dependent on a small number of very wealthy donors. And it unveils a major new survey of public opinion which shows that the public continue to see parties as vital channels for shaping the future.
To reconnect parties and the public the report sets out a new deal that could help the parties grow once again – including changes to their legal status and their funding, as well as recommendations for how the parties could rebuild themselves as strong civic institutions, rooted in local communities.
The idea that political parties can be for the public good may seem strange in an antipolitical era. But a democracy based on robust competition – and occasional cooperation – between strong political parties remains the best guarantee that we get governments that serve us, rather than the other way around.”
download document here
thanks to the link and first commentary via Delib
second commentary via Young Foundation
It is good yet again to find some of the difficult issues we are facing today are being handled maturely. The Young Foundation and Delib are just elements of a burgeoning British exploration into collaboration, governance and society for an internet enabled age.
Hi James,
Thanks for the post. The future of representative democracy and in particular the role of political parties is part of an important debate. My hunch is that the answer is two-fold: first of all, we need a lot more autonomy-in-cooperation in society, and this is what peer governance is offering us. But society, as a field of competing interest, will probably have to stick with some form of representative democracy, augmented by new forms of multi-stakeholder governace. Parties however, are no longer what they once were. They are, pretty much like corporations, marketing machines; a vague brand with a general positioning, which constantly surveys opinion trends to play with; the power lies with those experts, not with party members. I’m pretty much convinced that this situation is already beyond reform. They’ll continue to exist, we can tamper with them to make them a little better, but we really need new vehicles. But which ones? Internet-enabled cyber collectives which can mobilize in physical space through ad hoc coalitions?
More importantly, I think we now have a time where the construction of the new is much more important than the contestation of the old.
I am not so sure about your conclusions. I expect that a large majority of political leaders will stay in the “business as usual” mode of PR, but i do expect a fringe to adopt these/your/young Foundation recommendations and operate more from a multi-stakeholder perspective. It will take probably till the 20-somethings take over the reigns of power before perhaps a major shift can take place. Too many of people in their 30s are still stuck in the older mindset (I’m a minority:)