Democracy is Changing
If it is true that the motto of a traditionalist is 'some change is good but no change is even better', there are few traditionalists in the UK at the moment. With an election looming, the desire for change may not be as palpable as it was before the US presidential election in 2008, but it is rising sharply.
Is pinning such hope on politics justified? Until recently, this question was anathema to politicians, many of whom felt that an air of self-importance was crucial to winning the confidence of voters.
Things are different now. The economic crisis, which has left gaping holes in public finances, huge budget deficits and rapidly escalating national debts, has had a sobering effect on western politicians. It has driven a consensus amongst many of them, including Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat leaders in the UK, that a top priority is the reduction of the structural deficit and that cuts in government spending is the best way to achieve this. As a result, voluntary associations, charities, NGOs, businesses and faith communities will become the true agents of change in western societies, rather than professional politicians.
Faith groups in particular are aware of the coming shift. Recent statements by Faithworks, and by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, make it clear that voters should not to be seduced into thinking that Government is a social cure-all.
Judging by their recent interviews and speeches, it won't be politicians that turn out to be the seducers. All three candidates to become British Prime Minister are repeating the message that real change needs to come from the bottom up, where in communities across the country it is voluntary associations, driven by a sense of purpose, that see lives transformed.
But resisting a seduction is not the same as exercising mistrust. Indeed, representative democracy, however inadequate, is something that should inspire our trust. Viewed historically and globally, it is a rare achievement, made possible only through the struggle of previous generations. And it embodies many of the same ideals that are prized by voluntary organizations, such as liberty, justice and responsibility, all of which are central to scriptural traditions.
At a time when most of the world's poor live under regimes in which the abrogation of these principles is flaunted, this is not the time to lose faith in democracy. But it is time to do democracy differently.
Peter Heslam
Links
Dr Peter Heslam is Director of Transforming Business, a project at Cambridge University on enterprise solutions to poverty
The statement by Faithworks, The Faithworks 2010 Declaration, is available here
The statement by the Catholic Bishops, entitled Choosing the Common Good, is available either for download or as a PDF here
The Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics has produced a briefing paper by its director, Dr Jonathan Chaplin, entitled How Should Christians Vote in 2010? It can be found here
The manifestos of the parties competing in the 2010 election are available via the BBC website, where their stances on specific issues can be compared
An article for LICC's EG magazine, entitled 'What to do in a Polling Booth' by Nick Spencer of the public theology think tank, Theos, which includes recommended reading for Christians wanting to engage further with politics, is available to download here
Comments
I hope and pray that articles like this will inspire Christians to vote on May 6th. A significant proportion seem to feel that there is no connection between the Church and politics. An indicator of this is that few people at the church I attend have signed up to Premier's 'Promise to Vote' campaign. There seems to be a general apathy and disillusionment similar to that of the secular world, with the added opt-out of 'God knows what He's doing - leave it to Him!' People like Wilberforce and Shaftsbury seem to be the exception rather than the rule as far as they're concerned. W&S were exceptional men, but look at Gideon's fearful start. He went on to be deliverer and judge of Israel. The significant thing was that, despite his fear, he was willing to take action. How can I inspire people to vote without preaching to them???
How right you are. What saddens me is that all the talk is about wealth and money, not about principles. We need to see a government commmitted to sunsidiarity, keeping for iotself only mthe absolute minmim of powers that cannot be devolved to communities, families and individuals. At the moment we have the opposite, with social engineering rife. We also need to see Britain as a leader, setting examples of how capitalisim and democracy can work for the benefit of all and how the poor can be supported and helped. Then we can go out into the rest of the world and talk to them. At the moment our words to other nations are empty because we have no principles ourselves.
As an NHS employee, I do think we need to move away from government micro-managing every aspect of life, monitoring and auditing everything instead of trusting people to do their jobs properly. Although I'm not sure how we'll get this to happen when every tragedy is accompanied by a media lynch-mob demanding legislation to ensure it doesn't happen again, which needs to be implemented and that implementation monitored... Fear is the enemy of trust, and we live in a very fearful society. MPs have done themselves no favours in exploiting this fear from time to time to get us to agree with their point of view. I am also sceptical about any party's claims that they want change to come from people either contributing their ideas or their time in voluntary work. Without government promising to step back, this sounds too much like MPs abdicating responsibility and getting things done on the cheap. That said, I will be voting on the 6th, principally because it it is a privilege hard-won by women like me who chained themselves to railings and were run over by horses. I don't know who I'll vote for yet, but one thing is sure - this nation and its government has big problems, but our God is bigger.
Date:
2010-04-19 13:49:01
Author:
Heather Williams