Are Factions Killing the Labor Party?

No matter what Senator Robert Ray has to say, 10 years out of Federal leadership is a failure despite success at the State level.

Currently the Liberals have two major advantages.

The first advantage is incumbency.

The second advantage is that for 10 years the Labor Party has failed to convince the electorate that its most public identity is worth the change.

Denying the failure is equivalent to denying the wisdom of democratic representation. Does this happen? If so, what an offence.

Given that Labor has such a strong standing at State level one must question the run of excuses given for failure at the Federal level.

So, are factions killing the Labor Party?

No, but the motives and ethics of those that aim to control factions must come into view and be challenged to show legitimacy and value.

Factions are not killing the Labor Party. Banning factions would be like banning friendships amongst like-minded people.

I contend that factions are not bad but that the bullying and coercion that is typically associated with the aggressive advocacy that is wielded to control factions is what is killing the Labor Party and is what is disenfranchising members and voters alike.

Aggressive advocacy is closed to learning, disrespectful of the views of opponents, manipulative with respect to colleagues, and determined to exploit every loophole to advance one’s purposes.

Entrepreneurial advocacy encourages individual officials to advance their own views without regard for the concerns of others; indeed, it encourages them to do so in a way that defeats the potential influence of those other views and their own opportunities for learning.

There is no small amount of arrogance in claiming to know the public good. Lurking behind such claims may be nothing more than greed, or ambition, or odd and untested ideas of public value or the public interest.

Without bullying, Labor would realise one of its most valuable assets both internally and within the population – that is the “wisdom of crowds”.

So, should entrepreneurial advocacy be discouraged?

No, its power for successfully driving through its agenda has been shown time and time again. Entrepreneurial advocacy should be diverted from its current purpose however and harnessed to drive through those policies that are discovered from the wisdom of its members.

Have your say.

[Bibliography: Creating Public Value, Mark H. Moore]