Category: Democracy

I’ve just been reading Peter Hennessy and Richard Wilson’s highly engaging evidence to the Parliamentary Committee that investigated political memoirs a while back. The full exchanges can be read here, and are worth reading, but my favourite passage was surely this (from Hennessy, addressing Wilson):

You have always tried to think the best of people. That is why you have been a civil servant. You have had to pretend that the twerps that you have been dealing with were in fact pillars of the constitution and bring some insight. You cannot help yourself. You are still charitable about them. You do not realise what rats most of them are. You never have done!

A famous essay from 1964, here.

Tristram Hunt writes an excellent opinion piece in the Guardian, asking for people to pay more attention to, and to celebrate, Britain’s history of dissent and radicalism. It’s not all Kings, Queens and village greens, he points out.

MetaFilter points to the pointless but endearing Wikocracy. Not a state run by Wiccans (a scary thought), but a Wiki (editable website) for laws. It’s main page is here, but don’t worry, they assure us:

“Nothing on this platform is legally binding.”

Phew!

Because they reward people who rush to the extreme and ignore compromise, like Maryscott O’Connor.

A paper by Joss Hands on local computer-mediated deliberation.

Stephen Coleman, Steven Clift and a couple of people I don’t know have launched a new group blog on Corante called Civic Minded. It’s about politics and participation in the age of the Internet. (RSS feed not working at present)

A repost of an old link from Many to Many, called: Author AnthonyPosted on 17 March 2006Categories Democracy

Viva la libertà! MetaFilter discusses.

The Electoral Commission has published a report analysing (pdf) the election campaign of 2005. Discussed on ePolitix.