Practical Politics

People, Power, Politics

aims to give educators, campaigners and citizens
access to courses, resources and support to create positive change

About Practical Politics

This site aims to provide information and support for anyone doing politics anywhere in the world who reads English. To start with most of the materials and references will inevitably be from the UK, USA, EU and English-speaking world, but politics today is global as well as local and we can all learn from each other, so please share relevant links, materials and insights from across the world. The site is run from a small town Scotland in a spirit of global citizenship.

The world’s most difficult problems are political,
yet many people feel powerless to influence decisions that concern them.

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Help people learn how to create change better

The world will become better sooner if more people become active in social and political change, and if those who are active became just a bit more effective.

You can help make it happen:

 

Post recources to this site

Use resources from the site

Make the case for your tutor, school, college or community to teach skills for democracy

Spread the word

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One day all education will include learning for practical politics so that democracy works for everyone.

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Values and Principles

We are inspired by fundamental beliefs and values of democracy,
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Rights of the Child.
These include life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, justice, equality, diversity, truth, the rule of law, solidarity and a commitment to the common good. We recognise and respect that people disagree strongly about the common good and how to achieve it, so that pluralism, freedom of speech, mutual respect and non-violence are fundamental to democratic decision-making.

We uphold Nolan’s seven principles of public life:

These principles were established for the UK Parliament following the 2009 expenses scandal:

accountability 

honesty

integrity

leadership
 
objectivity 

openness 

selflessness

We advocate the six principles of practical political education:

These principles are based on the understanding that society benefits from effective participation by all citizens in the political process,
including the poor, disadvantaged and disenfranchised who are under-represented in all forms of mainstream politics.
They were drawn up by Titus Alexander for the founding statement of Democracy Matters in 2009.

What is practical political education?

The word ‘politics’ is from classical Greek, meaning ‘affairs of the city’, analysed in Aristotle’s treatise on government in 350 BCE. Political scientist Harold Lasswell bluntly described it as Who Gets What, When, How (1935).  The political philosopher Bernard Crick defined politics as “the activity by which differing interests within a given unit of rule are conciliated” (2000).

Any organization in which decisions are taken about who gets what is a unit of rule, from a university department to the United Nations. Units of rules are power structures, nested within each other and/or in competition with each other.

Most politics takes place within organisations. Even in democracies most people have a limited role. Every few years they can elect representatives (politicians) who direct the civil service, who run the permanent government. Between elections people can lobby or campaign for issues to be addressed. This takes skill and persistence. Politics also takes place in local communities, professional networks, businesses, families and dictatorships. This site aims to help people learn how to do politics better wherever they are.

Each level and type of organisation requires different kinds of politics.
The skills, strategy and knowledge needed are specific to the time, place and people involved.
But some core ideas and approaches which have almost universal relevance.
For most of human history, and in most societies, people are governed through hierarchies, with a small group at the centre who rule the majority below. Societies where the majority have the right to challenge how they are governed and choose their rulers are relatively new.
This site is about equipping the majority of people to use and expand their ability to say how society is run so that everyone can be free and equal to live a good life in a safe and sustainable environment. In time humanity may develop societies in which the only hierarchies are of responsibility and no one rules over others.

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Skills for practical politics

Most of the following abilities are needed to do practical politics at any level:

  1. Understand the issues: this requires critical investigation.
  2. Be clear about the solution or outcome you want to achieve.
  3. Know your way round power structures that affect your issue.
  4. Understand the systems that influence power structures, such as beliefs, incentives, finance, laws, networks, geography, institutional memory etc.
  5. Be able to communicate, organise, lobby, persuade, negotiate, make decisions, build relationships, plan, analyse finances or data, and act effectively.
  6. Be confident and resilient, able to persist despite repeated setbacks.

People, Power, Politics is hosted by Titus Alexander, founder of Democracy Matters, Charter 99, the Parents’ Amendment, and other campaigns; Honorary Fellow, Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics; author of Practical Politics: Lessons in Power and Democracy (2016), Citizenship Schools (2001), Unravelling Global Apartheid: An Overview of World Politics (1996), and other books …