Technology | 2009.06.02
A new politics: The post-bureaucratic age | David Cameron
Where the information revolution meets progressive Conservatism, people will control the things that matter to them
The way bills are published online today is stifling innovation and blocking democratic engagement. So a Conservative government will publish all parliamentary information online in an open-source format. This will help people easily access bills and other legislation in order to create useful applications, like text alerts when something you\'re interested in is debated. And it will mean many more expert eyes helping to explain laws as they\'re formed, flagging up flaws and suggestions for improvement. Anything that acts as a barrier between politics and the public has got to be torn down – including the ridiculous ban on parliamentary proceedings being uploaded to YouTube.
But this spirit of glasnost needs to extend beyond parliament and throughout our political parties too. One of the reforms I\'m most proud of is the widespread introduction of open primaries for the selection of Conservative parliamentary candidates in recent years. I want to see this continue, with much greater use of open primaries for the selection of parliamentary candidates – and not just in the Conservative party, but in every party. In time, this will have a transformative effect on our politics, taking power from the party elites and the old-boy networks and giving it to the people.
The lack of power and control people experience from politics was barely tolerable when times were good. But now times are hard and people are on the receiving end of wage cuts, job losses, negative equity, home repossessions and rising crime – and revelations about their rulers\' behaviour, which has disgusted them. They are furious and finally demanding big change. Big change and a new politics is exactly what people can expect from a new Conservative government. We\'ll begin a massive redistribution of power in our country from the powerful to the powerless – from the political elite to the man and woman in the street.
Local control over schools, housing, policing; the right to initiate local and national referendums; more mayors; fewer quangos; open primaries for parliamentary candidates; curbing the power of the whips in parliament and the spin doctors in government; fewer MPs; everything about our political process published online, all the time – the expenses, the spending, the lobbying, parliamentary proceedings, the lot. That is a serious agenda for a new politics, and it\'s why I think the best way of resolving the present crisis is a general election.
We\'re living in an age where technology can put information that was previously held by a few into the hands of almost everyone. So the argument that has applied for well over a century – that in every area of life we need people at the centre to make sense of the world for us and make decisions on our behalf – simply falls down. In its place rises up a vision of real people power. This is what we mean by the Post-Bureaucratic Age. The in formation revolution meets the progressive Conservative philosophy: sceptical about big state power; committed to social responsibility and non-state collective action. The effects of this redistribution of power will be felt throughout our politics, with people in control of the things that matter to them, a country where the political system is open and trustworthy, and power redistributed from the political elite to the man and woman in the street.
David Cameron will be giving a speech on reforming government today at the Open University in Milton Keynes
This is the fourth part of an article the Conservative leader has written to accompany that speech. The article has been divided into four simultaneously published parts to enable readers to post comments on the threads
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/[...]/david-cameron-a-new-politics3
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