- Joined
- Dec 30, 2010
- Messages
- 12,730
- Points
- 113
One Car, Many Drivers
The dichotomy between our political past and our political future may be difference between the government doing all the driving and steering in the past and these functions being more shared between government and electorate in the future.
If the State were a car one may be prompted to ask whose hands will prove stronger on the gear knob and steering wheel – the government or the electorate? Will we find the right balance of tension between these forces? Can the opposition play a constructive role in Parliament? Can the electorate educate itself on the issues and thus make reasoned judgements about policy proposals? Will we see more public intellectuals stepping forward with ideas and constructive criticism to help massage the political process in a positive direction? Will we normalise to become like other democratic governments, which are forced by electoral pressures to think short term and to be populist?
The interplay of the answers to all these questions will be what determines the shifts that will drive the State into the future.
- http://mothership.sg/2013/09/national-day-rally-three-shifts-political-future/
The dichotomy between our political past and our political future may be difference between the government doing all the driving and steering in the past and these functions being more shared between government and electorate in the future.
If the State were a car one may be prompted to ask whose hands will prove stronger on the gear knob and steering wheel – the government or the electorate? Will we find the right balance of tension between these forces? Can the opposition play a constructive role in Parliament? Can the electorate educate itself on the issues and thus make reasoned judgements about policy proposals? Will we see more public intellectuals stepping forward with ideas and constructive criticism to help massage the political process in a positive direction? Will we normalise to become like other democratic governments, which are forced by electoral pressures to think short term and to be populist?
The interplay of the answers to all these questions will be what determines the shifts that will drive the State into the future.
- http://mothership.sg/2013/09/national-day-rally-three-shifts-political-future/
