- Pretty sure I look and smell amazing after 3 hours sleep and no shower. Now back to Norwich to wash and talk at open day (in that order). #
- Blur rocked: http://twitpic.com/93g2e #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-07-03
Tweets on 2009-07-02
- AudioBoo: Blur background sounds 3.30 http://boo.fm/b35565 #
- http://twitpic.com/91l5l. Inside Hyde Park! #
- TechCrunch shown up for lack of knowledge on 1970s British sitcom innuendo: http://bit.ly/j9BPF. #MrsSlocombesPussy #
- Fascinating post on tension in Facebook business model: built user base on privacy, now must open up to take on twitter http://bit.ly/1IWIn3 #
- Very excited about going to see Blur at Hyde Park tomorrow! #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-07-02
- AudioBoo: Blur background sounds 3.30 http://boo.fm/b35565 #
- http://twitpic.com/91l5l. Inside Hyde Park! #
- TechCrunch shown up for lack of knowledge on 1970s British sitcom innuendo: http://bit.ly/j9BPF. #MrsSlocombesPussy #
- Fascinating post on tension in Facebook business model: built user base on privacy, now must open up to take on twitter http://bit.ly/1IWIn3 #
- Very excited about going to see Blur at Hyde Park tomorrow! #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-07-01
- This is, quite frankly, insanity: http://bit.ly/BC4He #
- This is a brilliant post on Next Lef tby Stuart White: http://bit.ly/16p6VR. #
- RT @simon_redfern: Apparently the Channel Four News theme tune is the only one in a major key. This makes me like @channel4news even more. #
- Harvard business blog gives revisionist account of Michael Jackson’s finances to explain problems in music industry: http://bit.ly/4czGg5. #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-06-30
- An odd use of twitter: http://billietweets.com/ #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-06-27
- RT @tweetminster: Cameron Commits to Freeing Data and Mashups - http://shar.es/7JKX #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-06-26
- Some great songs: http://bit.ly/ah5hY, http://bit.ly/UiaYk, http://bit.ly/Y3TJE, http://bit.ly/Wufb2, http://bit.ly/7VGH7 #
- If this is a measure of the magnitude of an event, the Internet is certainly groaning under the weight of the demand tonight. #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-06-25
- And just realised that I have started referring to myself in the 3rd person on Twitter, as you used to have to on FB status updates. #
- Just booked his flights to Canada for APSA 09! Very excited. #
- Mind the gap: http://bit.ly/4LwLD #
- The Onion’s take on Twitter becoming useful: http://bit.ly/Pf1m3. #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-06-24
- Can you share with us? A question a day on twitter? RT @petewoodcock: is messing about on Blackboard making a political philosophy quiz #
- RT @willwalmsley: (Pic) The future of dating… http://is.gd/1c2Mf #
- Very interesting short review of a bio of Fred Perry (about whom I knew very little) in the TLS: http://bit.ly/2JGcGY. #
- Went to see Looking for Eric last night. Really good. Kind of modern fairy tale. #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-06-23
- Clearing out my to do list at a rate of knots. Been a productive couple of hours. #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Political values and constitutional reform
The Next Left has recently seen some spirited and informed discussion about the potential and dangers of open primaries. Since greater use of primaries was one suggestion that Will Straw and I made at the end of our recent co-edited Fabian book The Change We Need, it seemed worth revisiting this discussion, especially since the recent expenses scandal has put all manner of constitutional and participatory questions up for debate, probably to an extent unseen since 1997.
The main focus of The Change We Need was on parties, and building political organisations capable of meeting the expectations of twenty-first century citizens. The problem we diagnosed was that British parties, in contrast to their American counterparts, were in terminal decline as participatory organisations and looking increasingly out of step with other forms of social organisation and interaction now common in the digital era. Although not an answer in isolation, these solutions can perhaps also play a role in addressing the broader crisis in democratic legitimacy currently engulfing our body politic.
However, debate in recent weeks has highlighted a major problem with the discussion of constitutional reform. While politicians have a habit of talking in terms of the institutions they would like to see created, there is not enough attention paid to the goals they hope to achieve. As Aristotle noted, the real value of a constitution is not the rules it lays out, but the values it was designed to realise. The precise rules employed are simply mechanisms to achieve these ends.
Given where we now are in the UK, the historical origins of primaries are interesting. The idea was first advocated (along with the recall election and early campaign finance law) by American progressives at the beginning of the twentieth century. These ideas were the product of a distinct world view which coupled together two ideas.
- A belief that political power was ultimately corrupting because it allowed for the centralisation of power and resources. As a result, politicians were inherently untrustworthy.
- An optimistic view that political activism was a force for good and was the path through which the good society could be created [1].
Now, these two ideas seem strangely divergent to us. The first one is recognisable enough. However, today in the UK, it is more frequently coupled with the rhetoric of anti-politics, cynicism and extremism. The great intellectual achievement of progressivism in the US was to create a form of politics that harnessed public cynicism as a way of recreating the political system periodically from the bottom up.
How we actually go about institutionalising such values is a slightly different question. The distinction between open and closed primaries was debated on the Next Left previously, but since that division is really a facet of US law, it is hard to replicate, short of a complete institutional overhaul and the introduction of partisan voter registration. The key point is that the selection process must embrace and engage a far broader section of the community, and not be a closed shop, either in the sense of being controlled by a central party machine in London or by a small group of party members in a constituency. Popular participation of this kind allows for the selection of candidates best suited to representing a particular locality, and forces potential-runners to start campaigning to a larger proportion of the electorate. Most important, it makes parties that are more responsive to public feeling and allows for re-invention at moment of crisis such as this.
[1] I cannot claim this reading of the Progressive movement as my own, as it is largely informed by Milkis and Mileur (1999). Hofstadter (1955) also offers an important account of the period.
[Originally published here]
Tweets on 2009-06-22
- Definition of feeling older: in coffee shop with VH1 Classic playing and thinking ‘I remember that song when I was at uni!’ #
- Just booking tickets online for the Globe and it has the best title box input ever, including: air commodore, canon, judge and princess. #
- This would take me back (if Apple ever allow it): http://bit.ly/KCgll #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-06-19
- I don’t know the demographics of the Apprentice’s viewers, but I can’t imagine this is electorally clever: http://bit.ly/vDYyG #
- RT @MichaelTurk: T-shirt somebody’s wearing on my plane: “In 1492, Native Americans discovered Columbus lost at sea.” #
- Nearly broken writers block curse. Just need to tweak three paras, then finished short piece. Sometimes it is hard to write. #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-06-18
- The Sims get social: http://bit.ly/Nx7p5 #
- Just re-ordering my digital life. Installed Rainlendar to sync with Google calendar and remember the milk, and now setting up tweetdeck. #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-06-17
- http://twitpic.com/7n0ze. The ‘nudge’ in practice. #
- Copy Paste Copy Paste Copy Paste Copy Paste Copy Paste Copy Paste Copy Paste Copy Paste Copy Paste Copy Paste Copy Paste Copy Paste. #
- Now downloading OS 3.0. Very excited about new CALDEV support (I don’t get out much). #
- RT @adityasood: No iPhone OS 3 update at 10 AM. It’s as if millions of nerds suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. #
- RT @andrew_chadwick: On Radio 4 The World at One and Sky News today discussing social media and Iran http://tumblr.com/xow22in5e #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-06-16
- Remarkable Flickr images from Iran: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fhashemi/sets/72157619758530748/ #
- Been saving this article to read for a while - but certainly a must-read: http://bit.ly/12Y3aC #
- Yay! Am on a train! #
- Last train now 25 mins later. This is going to be a long evening. #
- Last Norwich train running late. This bodes well. #
- Having cheeky milkshake at Lpool St. before last Norwich train leaves. #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-06-15
- What happens if you drink too much water in Brussels? European (say it out loud…). #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-06-13
- Just grabbed: http://www.facebook.com/nick.anstead #
Powered by Twitter Tools.
Tweets on 2009-06-12
- Your life is crazy. Did you ask her to our gig? RT @rodrigodavies: http://twitpic.com/75ce8 - yoko ono and i #
Powered by Twitter Tools.