Politicians, media and public need to understand that politics needs to be less glamorous – or at least understand that it is partly about the unglamorous business of government.
Posted by Richard D North under 'Power To The People!' / Dare to be dull / The Archipelago State on 10 February 2010. No comments.
Looking at the work of the Institute for Government makes me all the more interested in describing some radical changes in the way the Civil Service operates. Here goes… More »
Posted by Richard D North under Dare to be dull / Post-Bureaucratic world on 5 November 2009. No comments.
Making government better by making it businesslike has a certain appeal. The trick is not to confuse policy with delivery. More »
Posted by Richard D North under Dare to be dull / Post-Bureaucratic world on 7 September 2009. No comments.
There is fresh and useful interest in improving the way a Prime Minister should engage with the Cabinet, and through the Cabinet with the Civil Service. By the way, hardly anyone is being too nostalgic for an imagined golden yesteryear. Here are some of the signs. More »
Posted by Richard D North under 'Power To The People!' / Dare to be dull / Death of ideology / Post-Bureaucratic world on 6 June 2009. No comments.
Here’s a quick guide to Parliamentary Reform
It’s in two parts (after v brief remarks by MBG editor):
(1) Current proposals for the reform of Parliament
(2) Some shakers and movers on the reform of Parliament
Posted by Richard D North under Dare to be dull on 25 May 2009. No comments.
After a few weeks of “crisis”, we’re already past the worst and into some very constructive stuff about the future of Parliament and MPs. Here’s a summary of the proposals so far. More »
Posted by Richard D North under 'Power To The People!' / Dare to be dull / Death of ideology / Presentation or policy? / The Initiative Blizzard / Uncategorized on 28 April 2009. No comments.
Gordon Brown took a lot of stick for his impromptu announcement of an initiative to clobber MPs’ expenses. It shows how careful you have to be when you go in for de haut en bas informal commnications on social media. More »
Posted by Richard D North under 'Power To The People!' / Dare to be dull / Presentation or policy? on 14 April 2009. No comments.
There is little surprise in finding that Gordon Brown’s vindictive nature has led him into doing serious damage to his own administration. His team’s failure with Red Rag has wider lessons, though. More »
Posted by Richard D North under Dare to be dull / Death of ideology / Post-Bureaucratic world on 28 October 2008. No comments.
In the post-ideological world, political parties have a clear choice. Robbed of the chance to pretend to want to change the world, parties need to convince the voters they are managerially sound. That, or offer to be sexy, smooth, celebrity types – in the manner of Blair. Likewise, they can offer proper government or insist on ruling informally from a sofa in The Den at Number 10. Where are the Tories in this game? More »
Posted by Richard D North under Dare to be dull / Presentation or policy? / The Initiative Blizzard on 11 October 2008. No comments.
Gordon Brown is the most remarkable case of perception management we have yet seen in politics. He casts himself as the nation’s rock in a metdown, but even now he seems incapable of the modesty and honesty which would make for good government. More »
Posted by Richard D North under Dare to be dull / Presentation or policy? on 23 September 2008. No comments.
Gordon Brown used to insist that if and when he became Prime Minister he wanted to govern in a more sensible and even old-fashioned way. The implication was that the informal Sofa Government from the “den” of Blair’s Number 10 would come to an end. That impulse did not survive. More »
