CorpComms Magazine

The thing about democracy is that the will of the majority prevails. The political philosophers from Plato to Rousseau who first developed the ideas that over centuries have evolved into our modern democracy could never in their wildest dreams have conceived the ingenuity with which modern society has perverted the high ideals that should underpin our standards of governance.

Universal suffrage, bicameral parliament, independence of monarchy and parliament and the separation of the administration from the judiciary are cornerstones of our system with which students of the British constitution will be familiar. They will recognise the checks and balances that these institutions embed, protecting us from extremism, dictatorship and the abuse of power by minorities or the self-interested. Look no further than Zimbabwe for yet another glowing example of the voracity of Michels's Iron Law of Oligarcht: Power corrupts; Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

We are protected from such excesses by our political tradition, aren't we? We respect our politicians and government...they represent the will of the people. Or so says democratic theory. Those of us who encounter government in our working lives, however, will on occasion encounter aspects of our system that do not ring true to these high minded ideals. 

In our society the ultimate protection of our liberties and standards is legislation. Moreover we are protected from an abuse of power because legislation must go through due parliamentary processes in the public gaze, often with extensive consultation among stakeholders and almost always with much comment and debate in the media.

DANGEROUS AMBITION

Sadly, there are many examples where this process is less than perfect. There are even instances where it has been usurped. Here's one for starters.

The Rt Hon Ron Smithers MP (not his real name) has a bee in his bonnet. He wanted to leave his mark on parliamentary history as the minister who forced businesses to set public targets for injuries and fatalities at work. (Presumably if you get to the end of your reporting period before you meet these you must shoot one of your colleagues!) 

The minister could not frame legislation for his objective. Instead, he let it be known that he would make a major public speech with full media support 12 months hence. In this speech, he would name and shame all FTSE 100 companies who had not acceded to his request. Admittedly this occurred during the time of that most absurd of mantras If it can't be measured it doesn't exist, which spawned a culture of targeting and measurement in the public services from which education and the health service have yet to fully recover. My response was (and still is) that the only reasonable target for workplace fatalities would be zero.

Here's another - a more contemporary one to look out for. In many ways, it is more insidious as it hits at the very core of our free market principles where consumer choice prevails. It is the concept of 'choice editing'. 

UNDER PRESSURE

You may not have come across this, but I can assure you that choice editing is already affecting your daily lives. It goes something like this. Pressure group, Give up the Gravy, decides that we are all eating far too much gravy. They put so much pressure on through the media, the quangos on which they sit and through government agencies that, ultimately, the ministry adopts their stance. Obviously, the chances of legislating are zero as there is no scientific basis. Indeed, not even the European Commission, famed for passing bizarre directives, can come to the rescue. Instead, pressure is brought to bear on industry to remove gravy from their recipes. Initially, industry pushes back but eventually it is forced into a compromise and reduces gravy usage by 50 per cent. The consumer knows nothing of this. All they know is that the products they used to love have mysteriously lost some of their appeal. 

You know when you've been 'choice edited'. Except, of course, you don't! Watch out for it. It can be applied to many perfectly legal products and practices. There is probably an example of choice editing stalking a stakeholder consultation paper sitting in your in-tray right now.   

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