Well, I am once again a member of the yellow political tribe, after rejoining the Liberal Democrats last month. This has led me to think a lot about the place of political parties and the impact of tribalism within democracy. In this article, I discuss tribalism and issue a warning to everyone who cares about a viable functioning liberal democracy.
I have been a member of a political party for most of my adult life. For most of that time I have been a member of the Liberal Democrats and I was briefly a member of the Green Party; it is safe to say that party affiliation has always been an important part of my political identity. As is the adversarial nature of British politics, I have occasionally fallen foul of petty tribalism myself and petty point scoring. Social media (especially Twitter) seems to exacerbate tribalist temptations. On reflection, what did my tribalism achieve? Arguably, very little, save a political ego boost. So, in part, this article is a warning to myself, as much as it is a warning to anyone else.
Liberals and progressives of all kinds have often critiqued nationalism and egoism for breeding hatred and selfishness. Tribalism is merely nationalism extrapolated to the level of political parties. It breeds mistrust, even hatred, towards other people for no other reason than that they are a member of another political tribe. The tribal mentality informs nationalism just as much as it informs party tribalism. It also informs the group egoism and privilege that informs many parties, especially parties which often exercise political power. The defence of tribe is as powerful within political discourse as it is dangerous.
Tribalism is poison in the veins of any liberal democracy. While competition between parties is vital to any multi-party democracy, tribalist mistrust and selfishness is corrosive to the political culture of any liberal democracy. If left unchecked, it can breed irreconcilable differences, differences that in time can breed extremism which can endanger a viable liberal democracy. It also breeds cynicism and mistrust towards politics and democracy amongst the general population, further making politics susceptible to forms of political extremism.
A liberal democracy can only survive as long as there is a degree of cooperation between its major political actors and a democratic consensus between the major political parties. No democracy can endure with irreconcilable differences with swathes of the population no longer trusting elected politicians or the institutions of democracy. Liberal democracy rests on its political actors being driven by the pursuit of the common good and the public interest. If they allow tribalism and the vested interest to get in the way of the common good and the public interest, it will undermine the very foundations upon which a healthy democracy rests.
In a true democracy, all citizens are political actors. Therefore, all citizens are responsible for their political conduct and are responsible for the type of democracy their conduct leads to. If you want a democracy that rests upon hate, cynicism and tribe; be hateful, cynical and tribal. If you want to democracy that is kind, cooperative and respectful; be kind, cooperative and respectful yourself. As free, rational political actors, we have political agency. We are responsible for our political actions, and we are responsible for the type of democracy that we create.
No political party has a monopoly on political wisdom or good policies. All democratic parties can learn from one another. Despite now being a Liberal Democrat again, I still admire other progressive parties. I deeply admire the Green Party (which I was briefly a member of). It has a vital role to play in combating the climate emergency and in campaigning for climate justice. Caroline Lucas continues to be my favourite non-Lib Dem MP. In Zack Polanski, the Greens have an exceptional Deputy Leader. I also admire progressive politicians across the Labour Party, as well as Labour’s sister party, the Co-operative Party. I have even admired moderate Conservatives in the past, such as Ken Clarke, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston (the latter two subsequently defected to the Liberal Democrats). I take inspiration from the Attlee and Wilson Labour governments of the past, as well as from the Macmillan Conservative government.
The first past the post voting system breeds adversarial politics through its winner takes all approach to elections. This helps to ingrain a zero-sum game approach within British politics. I believe that moving to proportional representation (preferably the single transferable vote) would lead to a strengthening of British political culture and would equally create a politics that is kinder, more collegial and more respectful. PR would naturally result in parties having to work together more often. You cannot be a supporter of multi-party liberal democracy and believe in a narrow range of viable political opinion. In a true liberal democracy, political opinion should be as wide as possible, with the exception of parties and political actors that advocate hatred towards minorities or violence. No liberal democracy should ever tolerate intolerance, for that has an even bigger corrosive impact on the foundations of liberal democracy than any form of party tribalism.
British politics needs to be more pluralistic and parties need to cooperate more. This is especially the case for progressive parties. I have long advocated for Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens to work together when and wherever possible. To this end, it is vital that at the next general election, all three parties campaign tactically to focus their resources on constituencies where they are best placed to unseat incumbent Tories. This must also be accompanied by the most sophisticated and wide-ranging tactical voting campaign ever seen in a British election. Tactical voting should actively be encouraged by all progressive parties due to the shortcomings of first past the post. It is also essential that all the progressive parties stand on a common platform of proportional representation, Lords reform, ending the climate emergency, opposing austerity and saving the NHS.
Let us be kinder and more respectful to our fellow democrats. While legitimate criticism and policy disagreements are essential for democratic political discourse, let us never stop trying to find the common ground between the parties. Let us strive for consensus and the common ground with the same righteous energy that we call out injustice, hatred and discrimination. Democracy ultimately rests upon a just and fair overlapping consensus between citizens and major political actors. Let’s build bridges of fairness, not walls of tribal intolerance.
In a liberal democracy, we have the freedom to speak, but that implicitly means that we have the freedom (even the responsibility) to listen to one another. In our social media age, we have mastered the prior and neglected the latter. A viable liberal democracy requires debate, but it equally requires dialogue. We must not lose sight of this. If you want a build a healthier, stronger, kinder democracy, then spend more time finding out what we have in common with each other politically, than on highlighting what we disagree on. It’s that simple!
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