Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Sunday, March 11, 2012

'Do the right thing,' Manning tells Tories

Preston Manning cautioned his fellow Tories on Saturday that the conservative movement in Canada must practise as well as preach ethical policies, be open to new ideas and better train political candidates.

The patriarch of the modernday Conservatives highlighted the three challenges facing the governing party - ideas, training, and ethics - during a keynote speech to hundreds of Tories who've gathered in Ottawa for the Manning Centre conference hosted by the former Reform party leader.

He delivered his message the same day Conservatives also debated their communication tactics and what's needed to defeat the Liberals and NDP at the provincial and federal levels.

Manning said the robocall votesuppression scandal being investigated by Elections Canada, as well as new polling numbers he released Friday - showing only one per cent of Canadians have a very favourable opinion of politicians - reinforce the need to improve the practices employed by all political organizations, including the Conservatives.

He wants all parties to avoid using vote-suppression tactics and robocall technology for nefarious reasons.

"Any political strategy, tactic, or technology which deliberately employs a lie to misdirect or mislead a voter is deplorable ethically and for the damage it does to the democratic process and public confidence in all parties and politicians," he told hundreds of Conservatives gathered in the nation's capital.

"For conservatives, being 'right' must mean more than adherence to right-of-centre positions; it must also mean doing the right thing," he later added.

Manning, echoing a message he told reporters Friday, said stricter surveillance by elections officials and campaign managers is part of the answer to unethical election practices.

But he argued, "the more important question is how to prevent such tactics and technologies from being employed in the first place."

Doing so requires better training for political candidates, their managers, volunteers and other operatives, he said, including instruction on ethical campaigning.

Specifically, he said training is needed in ethical politics and the ethical use of new political technologies such as automated voter calling and social media, such as Twitter and Facebook.

Business and journalism schools teach ethics courses, he said, and it's time for political science departments and party campaign schools to do the same.

"Voters have a right to ask where are the ethical, legal, and social units attached to political organizations and campaigns to safeguard against the abuses of political science and political technologies," he said.

Richard Ciano, a political strategist and the new president of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party, also condemned vote suppression tactics but defended the use of new technologies in identifying and communicating with voters.

He said another challenge for provincial and federal Tories is communicating their message effectively and directly to Canadians.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the federal Conservatives have mastered direct mail and television ads, he argued, while Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's use of telephone town halls for unfiltered dialogue was "crucial" to making a connection with voters and claiming victory.

He attacked what he said is the Liberals' and NDP's "systematic undermining" of confidence in Canada's electoral process, including "fearmongering" about virtually all forms of live or automated telephone calls to voters.

"For conservatives to win, we need to communicate our message directly to voters, without the filter of the mainstream media," Ciano told conference participants in a separate seminar.

"Victories only become possible when we master the mechanisms of communicating directly to the vast pool of potential voters."

Manning, meanwhile, said proper training is also critical for the Conservatives to find strong candidates and succeed in future elections.

Far too often, political parties provide no guidance or training to constituency workers on candidate recruitment prior to an election, or support for the elected official after the campaign.

"The old idea was that political practitioners could learn on the job. But in this modern age of immediate demands ... and instant communications ... this learning on the job is no longer sufficient," he told the crowd of volunteers, academics, current and former Tory MPs and lobbyists.

Manning also stressed the need for cultivating new ideas within the party at the grassroots level and having Conservative MPs be receptive to innovative approaches for governing.

"What's important is that challenging ideas get expressed and debated, because in the long run, ideas are the life blood of real democratic discourse," he said.

Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: Jason Fekete

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