Rex Ringschott has been following the recent coverage of rampant ALP branch stacking in The Age. There’s no doubt that these appalling power games and shenanigans have the effect of deterring branch members’ participation in and citizens’ willingness to involve themselves in Labor politics.
Earlier this year I made some suggestions about positive ways to open up the Labor Party to democratic decision making. I think these remain valid, and it’s a crying shame that few Labor leaders seem to have the courage to take on the factional warlords and branch stackers. This is one area where Kim Beazley’s record in the past – compared to his successor Simon Crean – offers little hope.
The negative reaction reported today in The Australian [no link available] to Evan Thornley’s desire to enter Parliament (and I agree, having met him a few times, Thornley would make a positive contribution) is illustrative of the prevailing attitude among the machine men (and the occasional machine woman).
It’s worth mentioning as well that political parties, like other organisations that rely largely on voluntary input, are in a long term process of decline. The social capital debate is relevant here:
Costa and Kahn find small declines in the probability of volunteering, larger declines in the probability of being a member of a group, and still larger declines in the probability of entertaining at home. There have been no declines in the probability of spending frequent evenings with friends or relatives, but time diaries suggest that the probability of visiting friends or relatives has fallen. They find that rising community heterogeneity (particularly wage inequality) was the best predictor of declines in social capital produced outside the home, but that women experienced a decline beyond that attributable to community heterogeneity. Rising wage inequality explained up to 77 percent of the decline in volunteering among men between 1974 and 1989. The decline in social capital centred in the home has been especially large among women, explaining all of the decline in time spent visiting family or friends in the 1990s, suggesting that women’s greater labour force attachment may play a role.
One characteristic common to many declining organisations is an increasingly inward looking focus and a tendency to lose sight of the organisation’s objectives in favour of power struggles for internal spoils.
It’s a bit rich to expect people who directly benefit from branch stacking to do anything about stopping it.
I look foward with interest in Brian Daly’s bid to take this issue to the courts.
It’s a bit rich to expect people who directly benefit from branch stacking to do anything about stopping it.
I look foward with interest in Brian Daly’s bid to take this issue to the courts.
“Rising wage inequality explained up to 77 percent of the decline in volunteering among men between 1974 and 1989. ”
This looks like the kind of result you get when the statistics people are let loose on social science. 23% for all the substantive sociological forces identified by researchers like Putnam (plus organisational failures that Mark mentions), and 77% for something that most people can’t even identify accurately? (Most people give very wrong answers if asked where they sit in the income hierarchy).
“Rising wage inequality explained up to 77 percent of the decline in volunteering among men between 1974 and 1989. ”
This looks like the kind of result you get when the statistics people are let loose on social science. 23% for all the substantive sociological forces identified by researchers like Putnam (plus organisational failures that Mark mentions), and 77% for something that most people can’t even identify accurately? (Most people give very wrong answers if asked where they sit in the income hierarchy).
I also think the reasoning sounds dodgy. How can some factor be claimed to cause an effect without a causative mechanism?
I also think the reasoning sounds dodgy. How can some factor be claimed to cause an effect without a causative mechanism?
Steve Bracks was installed by the factions. Why would he threaten them (or branch stacking)?
Steve Bracks was installed by the factions. Why would he threaten them (or branch stacking)?
EP I think the reasoning would go something like this:
The decline in social capital is short hand for a decline in volunteering in clubs, societies and other intitutions that used to bind communities together. People are less engaged within their community and less interested in each other.
As a result. ALP membership and Liberal party membership and many (not all) such such institutions lose their once strong membership base, but the institution itself, or at least the facade, still exists. This then allows the possibility of the institution being hi-jacked by special interests, that use the cover of the facade for their own purposes.
Branch stacking is easier and cheaper for the stacker when there are fewer real members. It is much easier to get control when you only have to generate a small number of fake members to seize that control. It seems that there are branches in Victoria that are only made up of fake members.
The decline in Social Capital therefore, (if you accept that it is a real phenomenon – unlike it seems Andrew Norton), is a phenomenon that you would want to encourage if you want to subvert democratic procesess, and implement corruption by stealth.
EP I think the reasoning would go something like this:
The decline in social capital is short hand for a decline in volunteering in clubs, societies and other intitutions that used to bind communities together. People are less engaged within their community and less interested in each other.
As a result. ALP membership and Liberal party membership and many (not all) such such institutions lose their once strong membership base, but the institution itself, or at least the facade, still exists. This then allows the possibility of the institution being hi-jacked by special interests, that use the cover of the facade for their own purposes.
Branch stacking is easier and cheaper for the stacker when there are fewer real members. It is much easier to get control when you only have to generate a small number of fake members to seize that control. It seems that there are branches in Victoria that are only made up of fake members.
The decline in Social Capital therefore, (if you accept that it is a real phenomenon – unlike it seems Andrew Norton), is a phenomenon that you would want to encourage if you want to subvert democratic procesess, and implement corruption by stealth.
I have a lot of time for Evan Thornley and I think he would make an excellent contribution to the ALP as a member of parliament.
Went to a Fabian Society talk in Sydney last month and he gave a very rousing and convincing speech.
I have a lot of time for Evan Thornley and I think he would make an excellent contribution to the ALP as a member of parliament.
Went to a Fabian Society talk in Sydney last month and he gave a very rousing and convincing speech.
Sorry, Rex, I didn’t phrase my point very well.
I wasn’t disputing that part of the post, but rather the statement that “Rising wage inequality explained up to 77 percent of the decline in volunteering among men between 1974 and 1989″. The linked summary doesn’t provide any indication of a causal link between wage inequality and a decline in volunteering, so I question the validity of that proposition.
Sorry, Rex, I didn’t phrase my point very well.
I wasn’t disputing that part of the post, but rather the statement that “Rising wage inequality explained up to 77 percent of the decline in volunteering among men between 1974 and 1989″. The linked summary doesn’t provide any indication of a causal link between wage inequality and a decline in volunteering, so I question the validity of that proposition.
Yeah, well who knows exactly why its happening. Its a fact of modern life I guess, but I think it has very serious implications that shouldn’t be ignored.
Yeah, well who knows exactly why its happening. Its a fact of modern life I guess, but I think it has very serious implications that shouldn’t be ignored.
There’s never been democratic decision-making in the ALP before, why expect it now?
Seriously though, there is an argument for much stricter controls on joining. Ben Chifley always argued strongly for smaller branches with fewer and more committed members, in order to prevent stacking, splitting, and all of the other things that go along with branches. Expecting Labor to suddenly, after more than a hundred years, to become a genuine mass party is ridiculous. It’s not so fanciful, however, to make sure that the only people who get to vote are people who are actually interested in the workings of the Party. Keep it strict, keep it fair, keep it small, those would be my rules.
Mark, I think social capital and Party democracy are two entirely different things. Being an active ALP member isn’t voluntarism, it’s a sign of incipient mental illness.
There’s never been democratic decision-making in the ALP before, why expect it now?
Seriously though, there is an argument for much stricter controls on joining. Ben Chifley always argued strongly for smaller branches with fewer and more committed members, in order to prevent stacking, splitting, and all of the other things that go along with branches. Expecting Labor to suddenly, after more than a hundred years, to become a genuine mass party is ridiculous. It’s not so fanciful, however, to make sure that the only people who get to vote are people who are actually interested in the workings of the Party. Keep it strict, keep it fair, keep it small, those would be my rules.
Mark, I think social capital and Party democracy are two entirely different things. Being an active ALP member isn’t voluntarism, it’s a sign of incipient mental illness.
Rex – Like EP I was only questioning the extent of inequality’s influence. Many US indicators of social capital are clearly down. In Australia, it is harder to tell because there is not enough long-term data. Some voluntary organisations have clearly seen significant drops in membership, and there have been increases in things we know to be correlates of declining social capital – unemployment, family break-up, people (esp. men) living alone, TV watching, commuting times. On the other side, rising affluence and education are positives, as are improvements in communication technologies. On balance there probably has been a decline since the 1950s and 1960s, though not one we can quantify. However, indicators seems to have stabilised or improved since the mid-1990s.
Rex – Like EP I was only questioning the extent of inequality’s influence. Many US indicators of social capital are clearly down. In Australia, it is harder to tell because there is not enough long-term data. Some voluntary organisations have clearly seen significant drops in membership, and there have been increases in things we know to be correlates of declining social capital – unemployment, family break-up, people (esp. men) living alone, TV watching, commuting times. On the other side, rising affluence and education are positives, as are improvements in communication technologies. On balance there probably has been a decline since the 1950s and 1960s, though not one we can quantify. However, indicators seems to have stabilised or improved since the mid-1990s.
Well Bhutan can measure its Gross National Happiness.
http://www.bhutanstudies.org.bt/publications/gnh/gnh.htm
Whereas in Australia “Not happy” has become a catchphrase. And, perhaps not s OT as it seems, when was the last time you heard that lovely Aus phrase “no worries” online as opposed to in real life?
You don’t have that
Well Bhutan can measure its Gross National Happiness.
http://www.bhutanstudies.org.bt/publications/gnh/gnh.htm
Whereas in Australia “Not happy” has become a catchphrase. And, perhaps not s OT as it seems, when was the last time you heard that lovely Aus phrase “no worries” online as opposed to in real life?
You don’t have that
href HTML linky thing here that can be used to use a word into a link do you Mark?
Not happy.
href HTML linky thing here that can be used to use a word into a link do you Mark?
Not happy.
It should work, Nabakov, you just have to type the code yourself.
No worries.
It should work, Nabakov, you just have to type the code yourself.
No worries.
I did do the a href thing Liam, and look what happened. Broken posts. Either that or I was pissed, impatient amd mistypped.
And Markie B. Permalinks for comments? Just a thought given that LarPro could well attract some serious commentator cut and thrust action down the track.
I did do the a href thing Liam, and look what happened. Broken posts. Either that or I was pissed, impatient amd mistypped.
And Markie B. Permalinks for comments? Just a thought given that LarPro could well attract some serious commentator cut and thrust action down the track.
Permalinks are easy, Nabs – click on the day and time under your comment:
Nabakov’s last comment.
Or you can click on the name of the commenter on the Discussion sidebar.
C.L. already linked to your comment on the Doctors as academics from his place.
Permalinks are easy, Nabs – click on the day and time under your comment:
Nabakov’s last comment.
Or you can click on the name of the commenter on the Discussion sidebar.
C.L. already linked to your comment on the Doctors as academics from his place.
Nabokov: Several Australian surveys measure happiness/well-being/life satisfaction. The most regular is the Deakin Uni/Australian Unity survey:
http://acqol.deakin.edu.au/index_wellbeing/index.htm
Nabokov: Several Australian surveys measure happiness/well-being/life satisfaction. The most regular is the Deakin Uni/Australian Unity survey:
http://acqol.deakin.edu.au/index_wellbeing/index.htm
All I wanted was to post a whimsical little comment about a whimsical little idea from a whimsical little country and suddenly I’ve got three tutors at once going through my hrefs’ and q’s.
Lucky for me you don’t know I’m also commenting nude as well.
All I wanted was to post a whimsical little comment about a whimsical little idea from a whimsical little country and suddenly I’ve got three tutors at once going through my hrefs’ and q’s.
Lucky for me you don’t know I’m also commenting nude as well.
“I?Äôm also commenting nude as well.”
doesn’t everyone?
“I?Äôm also commenting nude as well.”
doesn’t everyone?