In praise of internal party democracy
Traditionally, outside commentators (whether from the media or other parties) have often been quite sniffy about the Liberal Democrat internal democratic procedures and things like having party conference vote to decide party policy.
The latest convulsions in the Conservative Party over Europe contrast with the overall pretty disciplined ‘we made a deal, so we will stick to the deal’ approach the Liberal Democrats have taken to coalition government. All the more so when you remember that most of the main controversies in the Lib Dems have been over things that weren’t in the deal.
That contrast is another reminder about the value of internal democracy. It’s not just about being democratic, it’s also about being effective – as without the democratic agreement to the coalition deal, there wouldn’t be anything like the same ability to stick together in government.
The rebellious Tory backbenchers demonstrates what happens if you force a decision on people rather than make them part of the decision-making.
In fairness to the aforementioned sniffy brigade, many have since 2010 commented on how events do indeed show the value of internal party democracy. Whether that has any impact on how other parties run their affairs is yet to play out, though so far it looks more like a matter of admiring democracy from afar rather than wanting to embrace more democracy at home.
Just what is the point of deal if it can be ignored by the bigger party? The ‘deal’ was a classic example of ‘marry in haste, repent at leisure ‘.
It is probably inevitable that the larger party in a coalition will have to be reminded more often than the smaller party that it is in coalition and not in absolute power. Having said that, however, Conservative backbenchers seem to have a particularly tenuous grasp of reality. Perhaps the Liberal Democrats should have been more forceful throughout in saying “Look, do you want this coalition or not?”