Technocratic democracy: Government designs for action shall be disciplined through their vetting.
We often hear that politicians are essentially sales staff - but there are implications of this, if we extend the metaphor. They are not the engineers. They don't really understand what they are selling, they're just playing for the team. And if we were to imagine that someone did really understand, we would be a bit naïve. But clearly things - all kinds of things - would work a lot better if the question of how laws and regulations, or indeed overall missions, designs for action, were to be implemented - they would work better if this question was interrogated from the outset.
As things stand, at least in the UK, any such evaluation is entirely optional, and normally ignored. Again, the spewing of 150 items per ministry per week should shock us into attention to the sheer dysfunction of our system, and the volume of wastage. What this principle does is, in effect, to paraphrase the famous designer, Dieter Rams: Less, but better. And not only that, but to make it enforceable. And this is where the separation of powers comes in to play - a second chamber can take the Executive's wild if well-intentioned hallucinations of the glorious future, interrogate them and reconstruct them as workable programmes.
In this episode, we look in detail at an eight-step vetting process devised by Ed and his co-author, Ray Ison, that would ensure that any designs that a government might have for action would align with the overall ethos of bringing about beneficial change.
Talking points:
Using expertise within a democratic structure
...as a check on the executive
The PR basis of political activity
There's nothing to ensure that learning is applied
Evaluations do not typically challenge the system
Money gets creamed off, culture of graft
Commercial due diligence as a model
Norman Strauss: ethos
The 8 Tests: Framing, Purpose, Engagement and Stakeholder, Insider, Other Countries, Systems Thinking, Capability, Value
Some systems have a more conducive ethos
Singapore - decisions tree
New Zealand - other forms of Capital
Links:
Norman Strauss
https://normanstrauss.wordpress.com/tag/norman-strauss/
Stafford Beer: “Rules come from System 5: not so much by stating them firmly, as by creating a corporate ethos – an atmosphere”
The inside and now, the outside and then:
- Systems 1, 2 and 3 between them make up the internal environment of the viable system – the Inside and Now. The autonomous parts function in a harmonising internal environment which maximises its effectiveness through creating mutually supportive relationships.
- System 4 is concerned with the Outside and Then. It formulates plans in the context of both the outside world and its intense interaction with System 3 which ensures all plans are grounded in the knowledge of the capabilities of the organisation.
The Viable System Model (blog)
https://metaphorum.org/viable-system-model
Gillian Tett: Anthropology as the study of what it means to be human in a digital age (Zoom interview with The Mint Magazine)
https://www.themintmagazine.com/tribes-and-tribulations
Sarah Novak & Dr Caroline Mc Leish: Social Capital and New Zealand's Living Standards Framework (blog/interivew):
https://www.centreforpublicimpact.org/insights/good-economics-new-zealand-s-focus-on-living-standards-and-social-capital-to-navigate-crisis
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