Repairing politics

This problem has coincided with the rise of professional electioneering. Sophisticated opinion polling and spin doctoring have taken the passion out of public life. In many respects, election campaigns have become a contest between candidates in telling the public what they think the public wants to hear.

This process, in turn, has created its own paradox. When people only hear from politicians the things that they themselves have already told the pollsters, they become more disillusioned with the political system. Most likely, the public has twigged to the insincerity of it all – the downward spiral of cynical politics and cynical opinion.

Surely the system cannot continue this way. We need to replace the politics of convenience with the politics of conviction. I believe that the Australian electorate is ready for this approach. It is looking for politicians who stand by their beliefs and passions. The current cycle of Australian politics - based on clinical campaigning and recycled public opinion - needs to end.

The medium is the message

The loss of public trust in politics has also coincided with the rise of television as the dominant medium for political debate. In effect, we have become an electronic democracy. Complex issues such as globalisation and social change are now dealt with through the simplicity of seven-second TV grabs. Moreover, television is an adversarial medium that reports politics through the prism of personal conflict.

Simplicity and conflict, however, are not a good way of dealing with complex issues. The electronic media have fostered a polarised and petty standard of debate. I am not suggesting that the electorate is irrational or ill-informed but rather, under-informed. On most issues, people find it hard to engage in politics due to a lack of quality information. Our democratic dialogue is in deficit.

In public surveys of professional ethics, politicians and the media frequently appear at the bottom of the list. While these two groups take each other seriously, the rest of society has tuned out. People no longer accept political information at face value.

In the age of television, politicians and the media have created a vicious cycle. Inadequate information and electoral opportunism have led to broken promises and political disengagement. Then the cycle repeats itself. Turn by turn, it has eroded the public’s faith in politics.

Our great hope for the future is the Internet. When television overtook newspapers in the 1960s as the popular medium for political news, it transformed politics. The medium became the message. The Internet will also have a major impact when, in the next decade or so, it overtakes television.

Whereas TV has fostered a shallow and adversarial debate, the Internet relies on a deeper dialogue and flow of information. Seven-second grabs and repetitious messages are redundant on the Net. It requires detailed information and policy solutions, thereby strengthening the relationship between elected representatives and the electorate. On Line Opinion is an example of this process. A new political medium has the potential to create a new politics.

The politics of public participation

With the decline of its traditional institutions, society has entered a period of moral confusion. People are longing to belong, to rediscover the trust and common purpose of a good society. They want to focus on relationships and social issues, not just economic policy.

In an age of globalisation, the politics of neighbourhood matters more, not less. If people are to cross boundaries and reconcile conflicting loyalties, they need to first learn the habits of self-governance. It is in this civic realm that the foundations of a better society can be found.

The political system needs to respond to this opportunity, opening up new avenues of public participation. I envisage modern politics as a civic conversation: political leaders engaging the public in an extended discussion about issues of common concern. Most people value the process of participation, no less than the outcomes it might generate. As a society, we need to rediscover the habits of democratic dialogue and civic engagement.

The new information technologies have an important role to play. Internet chat rooms and online ballots should be a regular part of the political process. So too, the expansion of civic education and consultative forums (such as citizens’ panels and precinct committees) can broaden the base of democracy. Anything that deepens the flow of information and decision-making in modern politics is welcome.