Democratic Dialogue, pt1: Small Parties for Big Issues
I heard recently - I can't find a source, sorry, so it might be hearsay - about a representative of UKIP who got asked about some aspect of domestic policy or something. He said he didn't know. People asked why he didn't know, being as he was a representative of his party and the question wasn't obscure, and he said something like, "I don't care about anything other than getting us out of Europe." There's a kind of elegant beauty to that; it's like UKIP personified. If they didn't have to come up with policies about other things, they largely wouldn't. But because they want to be viewed as a viable political party, they've had to spend some time and resources coming up with stances on a load of things that aren't core to their agenda.
A lot of the small parties are like this. They've got a few stances on particular issues - usually quite important, contentious issues, or sometimes stances that touch a lot of issues in small ways - but that's not enough to fill out a manifesto. Where do they get the rest of their ideas from, I wonder? What's the Green policy on immigration? What's the BNP policy on arts and media funding?
These parties want votes. To get votes, they have to persuade the public that they'd be better at running the country than the alternatives - and while personalities and media control is a factor, the bulk of what matters is policy, especially for the small parties that don't have personalities and media control. They have to persuade the people that their policies are better than the alternatives; they have to explain them to people, and defend them against criticism.
Doesn't it suck for them that they have to spend time explaining and defending policies that aren't core to their agenda?
A lot of the small parties are like this. They've got a few stances on particular issues - usually quite important, contentious issues, or sometimes stances that touch a lot of issues in small ways - but that's not enough to fill out a manifesto. Where do they get the rest of their ideas from, I wonder? What's the Green policy on immigration? What's the BNP policy on arts and media funding?
These parties want votes. To get votes, they have to persuade the public that they'd be better at running the country than the alternatives - and while personalities and media control is a factor, the bulk of what matters is policy, especially for the small parties that don't have personalities and media control. They have to persuade the people that their policies are better than the alternatives; they have to explain them to people, and defend them against criticism.
Doesn't it suck for them that they have to spend time explaining and defending policies that aren't core to their agenda?