Category: Democracy

Making your vote count

Unitary Authorities

A democratic breakthrough? 2 UK models: from the many to one

WEST MIDLANDS

The Government plans to create “a series of new mayors within the next ten years”, Ministers have revealed.

It will tell councils across the country that they must create regional mayors if they want a share of the funding that is being allocated to existing mayors, such as Andy Street in the West Midlands and Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester.

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Go Bottom Up

The extent to which the use of social media by campaigns follows the command and control model, or a more bottom-up, decentralized approach. (Source – the LSE blog)

To selectively adopt digital tools that fit with the traditional top-down model; in other cases, the dynamics created by linking to other grassroots organizations can have transformative effects.

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Taking Responsibility

Demonstrate Flexibility

Offer Open Source

Become more Collegial 

Get interested in the Transfer of Power

Learn to Criticise the Institutions

Develop Capacity

None of this need be about so-called empowerment for a Dandelion Child

Read how your Resilience has Developed through Adversity

The Democratic Deficit

Get interested in direct and representative democracy: the new focus is about making my vote count. 

But how to expose the power gap in society?

“The big divide was never between leave and remain, nor black and white, nor men and women, nor north and south. It’s between those with power and those without.” Nadir Afzal, ex regional chief prosecutor. 

The state is under attack in favour of investment in bubble zones that have the potential to return on your investment, ie the green zones. The red and orange zones are being stepped over and causing the breakup of the statutory whole.

Extinction Rebellion’s new party: Beyond Politics: “The current political system is corrupt and failing. They want to hand power to ordinary people through citizens’ assemblies, and plan to field candidates across the country for future local, regional and national elections” – starting with a north London activist, Valerie Brown, who is to stand for mayor of London at next year’s election.

But see opendemocracy.net: “Objectivity is commendable but blind neutrality is absurd. The persistent push to enforce ‘neutrality’ stifles rebels from speaking openly about a political party. The result is that the people most passionate about addressing this crisis are kept out of the conversation.”

Transcending the tribalism of Party politics is laudable but XR should be driven by the absolute need to avert catastrophe. We should take actions that will further that end and that end only