Partisan v Coalition politics

It has been a few weeks since the historic results of the General Election in Britain, the dust has settled somewhat and it does appear as if it is back to "politics as usual" in the land of Westminster. Except, however, for one minor hiccup. Britain has a coalition Government for the first time since the 1970's, and how that will fare, only time will tell. Over the last few years I have witnessed two "historic" elections and I have been pondering on the various forms of modern democracy. (Traditional definition here)

Party politics, coalitions and partisanship are all heavy words and especially so in today's politics on both sides of the Pond. In the US, I don't think you can even call the Big Two, political parties. Maybe the correct term is, "umbrella organizations" as they try to incorporate so many various views. One of the results of the umbrella organizations is that no one feels that they are truly incorporated or represented by their "party".

Then in Britain we have the Coalition, which on the face of things could blaze a trail for compromise and "working together for the common good of the county". But on the other hand it could be the death knell for any hope of electoral reform in Britain, as the main party advocating reform looses it's identity by being swallowed up by the bigger fish.

And what of proportional representation, does it really reflect the true will of the people? The risk appears to be that compromises have to be reached and so "your party" no longer stands for what you thought it did and your policies may get lost in the shuffle. Another risk is that the coalitions have so much invested in them that if and when a deals breaks down, the domino affect can ensue and the whole house of cards collapses due to, "irreconcilable differences" leaving the country without a Government and political parties become almost seasonal.

I fear for modern day politics as the majority experience political apathy and witness the continuing rise of personality and issue specific politics. It appears as if the people in the middle loose out as the people on the outer edges shout the loudest to be heard against all the other "noise". It feels as if increasingly, polices and people are defined by what they "stand against" as opposed to what they "stand for"; more people can get behind what they disagree with than what they agree with. Only in this way can the political parties attract numbers both in terms of people and money. This "negative politics" has a persuasive and partisan impact, as politics drifts to the edges to gain an identity. The extreme affects of such partisan politics can be seen in "hot spots" all over the world.

People like stability and they like to see results, but they also like to feel that their voice is being heard, the two seem almost irreconcilable. So, Democracy? And what other choice is there? It could be a perfect ideal, but the imperfections are in the details. Sir Winston Churchill sums it up best: "Democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."

Edited by Walraj Singh Gosal