GV280Lecture 21

Cock ups and U-turns

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it

incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.”

People who could havedone the job better

Relative values• Policies that appear foolish to some people may

seem sensible to others (sometimes, but not always, depending on their party allegiance)

• Not all policies that initially appear foolish, misguided or mismanaged are still seen that way with the benefit of hindsight

• Some policies that seem reasonable at first later turn out to have been foolish, misguided or mismanaged

Building project no. 1

• Estimated cost was exceeded by 1400%– Largely funded by proceeds from lottery

• Construction took 10 years longer than expected

• Eventual building was dismissed as ‘white elephant’

Building project no. 1 Sydney Opera House

Building project no. 2

• Completed within budget (£789m)– Largely funded by proceeds from lottery

• Planned completion date – 2 years after start of project

• Actual completion date – 2 years after start of project

Building project no. 2The Millennium Dome

Foot and mouth disease

The poll tax

Loony left (1)

Loony left (2)

The poll tax

Analysis of policy failure:

• Why do things go wrong? – human error– flaws in the system of government

• What happens after things go wrong?– effective remedies– cover ups and denial

William Waldegrave, 1993:

“In the end there is no magic wand which can ensure that human

decision-makers avoid mistakes.”

(Quoted in Butler et al., Failure in British Government, p. 302)

Butler et al.: system failure

Elective dictatorship– Ability of the government to push through any

policy– Extreme flexibility of constitution– Convention of local government autonomy can be

flouted at will ...– ... and was, by the Poll Tax and similar measures

Coalition in reverse

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/may/31/coalition-u-turns-full-list

The U-turn

“To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning!”

- Margaret Thatcher, 1980

“I can only go one way. I've not got a reverse gear”

- Tony Blair, 2003

Elective dictatorship + unresponsiveness

≠ democracy