On the need for a more open conversational politics…
I’ve a piece in today’s print version of the News Letter, I’ll not be putting it out on Slugger, but I have shared the full text with our LinkedIn Politics and Public Affairs in Northern Ireland (open to all with a LinkedIn account) group. In it I argue that the DUP has de facto been made more open by the crisis, when politicians who might otherwise have queued politely for their turn to gain access through the press office now have a much wider and richer access to the party in all or at least may of its parts. The culture of secrecy will never entirely lift from politics, but political parties will be forced to become more porous even if they choose not to embrace it in ‘peacetime’, so to speak. It’s a timely subject, not simply because of the news of the last few weeks, but also because we’ll be running a series of open workshops on some of the issues arising in Belfast throughout March… And its not an issue just for political parties but for all ‘closed’ organisations…
Any news on Lady hermans constituency meeting last evening?
In it I argue that the DUP has de facto been made more open by the crisis, when politicians who might otherwise have queued politely for their turn to gain access through the press office now have a much wider and richer access to the party in all or at least may of its parts.
I suppose I should join LinkedIn and access the rest of the article to see the context, but I don’t see much evidence of their present crises making them a more open party. Very few of them indeed stepping out of line, very few of them contributing anything at all (never mind an independent view) online be it twitter, blogwise or whatever. Several press articles supposedly written by their elected representatives but in reality all pretty generic. Usual propaganda output from the press-office…apart from that, zilch.
The DUP simply don’t do “open”.
oneill,
I can think of 1 MLA that does open engagement online well and 2 that have a go, stay inside party line but engage to some level. Its not just a DUP problem.
£145? good luck