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Continuing our series exploring Morton Blackwell’s Laws of the Public Policy Process.
22. Never miss a political meeting if you think there’s the slightest chance you’ll wish you’d been there.
A fairly self-explanatory Law, this. Success in politics, be it your campaign, or just running a buzzing campus branch, will hinge on who you know, who you can call on. It’s crucial then to attend every meeting offered if there’s a chance to make a new contact, or touch base with an existing one. On campus you should be looking to attend as many friendly societies’ meetings as you can so as to spread word of your own group, establish connections with fellow student leaders and encourage people to come to your events.
As a movement it’s vital that we have open channels between organisations. Whether you’re campaigning on the same issue or not, be familiar with your fellow movement leaders. The Wednesday Meetings – begun in America within their conservative movement and more recently established in Britain – are a condensed example of today’s Law. The meetings, as their name suggests, occur on Wednesdays and are attended by leading conservative movement figures. Everything said is off the record, and is an opportunity for groups to discuss amongst themselves what they’re doing, to share information and coalesce as a movement.
Continuing our series exploring Morton Blackwell’s Laws of the Public Policy Process.
21. An ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.
On campus, fired up by big ideas and rife with desirous ambition, self-interest can be at risk of usurping what’s best for the team, and indeed, the movement. Anyone with experience of political youth movements will know the tendency for fissures to develop and factions split. Conservative Future’s own internal elections are often a proof of that. And it’s far from being exclusive to youth wings.
But infighting and careerism do not serve the movement. Activists should remember that we’re all on the same side at the end of the day – so act like we are! Internal elections should be passionately, but cleanly, fought. Nothing is worth winning, no office is worth holding, if doing so is to the detriment of the movement. Loyalty takes many forms – from not indulging in gossip and backstabbing, to respecting the chain of command; and putting personal interest second. Our first and highest loyalty is always to the movement.
Continuing our series exploring Morton Blackwell’s Laws of the Public Policy Process
20. A stable movement requires a healthy, reciprocal I.O.U. flow among its participants. Don’t keep a careful tally.
This Law is a lesson about the importance of setting aside petty personal interests about who is contributing the most, or who owes exactly what. Whether it’s literally I.O.U.’s in the sense of monies due, or more metaphorically in the sense of work apprortioned and done, the point is the same. A successful movement isn’t a balance sheet.
Every activist at every level must be prepared to chip in and play whatever role is required of them. No one should be keeping an account of exactly how much other members are contributing – the movement isn’t about making sure that no one does any more or less than anyone else, but about doing what is demanded to affect the change we want in our country. Whilst no one likes carrying dead weight, we ought to be focusing on selflessly driving forward the movement, not on policing some manner of equality of effort between participants.
Victory will require exceptional efforts by individuals, and focusing on trying to quantify and balance everyone’s contribution will make that task the the focus of our efforts, distracting us when we ought to be focusing achieving victory. Ultimately, what we want to see is every activist and organisation giving everything they can to the movement, regardless of how that compares to anyone or other.
Continuing our series exploring Morton Blackwell’s Laws of the Public Policy Process.
19. All gains are incremental; some increments aren’t gains.
As a budding activist you’ll be keen to advance through the ranks, take on new responsibilities and positions. Advancement comes piece by piece, over time, and in stages, each building on the last. When fresh opportunities present themselves there’s a strong tendancy to take anything that’s offered, seeing it as another bow to your string, another rung further up the ladder.
However, one should be cautious. Whilst all opportunities may be attractive, they are not necessarily all advancements. One should try to have a goal in mind, pick a course and exercise discernment in the steps you take towards it, not merely grasping at anything and everything that comes along.
Continuing our series exploring Morton Blackwell’s Laws of the Public Policy Process.
18. You can’t save the world if you can’t pay the rent.
The reality check Law. As activists it’s easy to allow yourself to be sucked into a campaign. You start out doing a few things on the periphery of politics, and before you know it you’re out every night, cutting corners, sleep and responsibilities to find enough time to meet your political commitments. It’s the fundamental problem of all activism – we’re volunteers – and so politics, seriously though we should take it, must always be subservient to our mistress, work.
In addition to the impact on our time, and thus productivity, in the workplace, there’s also the financial dimension for activists. There are so many conferences – in Britain, and abroad, especially in America – which would be fantastic experiences for any young conservative. Then there’s activist training. Tickets for political events. Even following your Party around the country in times such as by-elections.
All of this can add up to a hefty total. In general, the conservative movement needs to do more to fund the grassroots, which would open up political opportunities to a great number of activists, especially outside of the London bubble. The likes of YBF do a fantastic job subsidising the cost of training to make it as accessible as possible. But the Conservative Party could do much more to make Party Conference financially accessible to younger activists, and indeed, it could fund the youth movement much better generally with a budget for Conservative Future. CF has the Salisbury club to fund raise for it, but that in itself is still soliciting funds from those least able to pay – youth activists – who frequently do vast amounts of work for the Party for little to no reward. The Party need not be afraid of funding CF if they do it wisely – subsidising conference, focusing on materials and offering training – after all, they’d be investing in the next generation of conservative movement leaders.
Continuing our series exploring Morton Blackwell’s Laws of the Public Policy Process.
17. Hire at least as many to the right of you as to the left of you.
There’s always a strong tempation to build a team of likeminded individuals, and it would seem almost sensible to do so. But the inherent danger is that without voices to either side of your own position you’ll end up with a team that no only is unable to constructively criticise your approach, but moreover that a group of likeminded individuals will almost always become more extreme and parochial in the absence of tempering input from dissenting influences.
For the same reason many organisations, in addition to the team which will run its day to day operations, establish an advisory council. These are formed of people with skills and backgrounds not necessarily in the same specific field as the organisation being founded, but who can bring an objective eye and experience which will help steer the direction of the organisation and keep it in the mainstream. In essence, establish mechanisms – checks and balances – to ensure the organisation always remains in touch.
Continuing our series exploring Morton Blackwell’s Laws of the Public Policy Process.
16. A well-run movement takes care of its own.
At first blush this Law might look akin to yesterday’s. And whilst they are not strangers, upon a closer analysis there is a worthy difference. A strong movement treats its members well. At the campus activist level, this may well translate into conducting ourselves maturely, and not descending into rumour-mongering, gossiping and such negative, childish behaviour. We should be focusing on advancing the movement.
It also means that as a movement, irrespective of our position, ideology etc within it, we should stand shoulder to shoulder with our fellow conservatives. Tight ranks make us impervious; anything less cedes ground to our opposition and weakens our cause. One might cite the treatment of James McGrath, a loyal member of Team Boris, promoted to deputy chief of staff following Boris’ victory, and then abandoned over a terse remark. Aside from his doggedly loyal friend, James Horrax, the Conservative Party resolutely failed to stand up for McGrath, and in doing so told our enemies that we’re willing to sacrifice talented, loyal individuals on the altar of appeasement; that all they have to do to undermine us is accuse an activist of racism and we’ll eject that person. That day we ceded a part of the debate to the control of our opposition, when we ought to have stood for something.
Finally, and I was in two minds whether this applies to today’s Law or the previous one, there’s the question of investment. Taking care of our own surely extends into making the most of our own, optimizing their talent. I mean of course training. As I wrote yesterday, there’s a tendency to treat activists as grunts to do the groundwork. In fact, as a movement, we ought to be training our people in political technology – after all political technology determines political success. Our failure to institutionalise the importance of training and passing on skills to our activists can only arrest the progress of our cause. Trained activists can do so much more for us. Untrained activists lack an edge in the media world. We should consider ourselves indebted to the likes of YBF for their dedicated training programmes, but at the same time ask why more has not been done to date to train activists. Should the Conservative Party not run some kind of campaign academy for activists? Training activists is nothing less than a way to identify and prepare the future leaders of our movement.
Continuing our series exploring Morton Blackwell’s Laws of the Public Policy Process.
15. Don’t treat good guys like you treat bad guys.
This Law may well be one of the most insightful for the campus activist, as much as the Association chairman, or anyone else who relies upon the good will and enthusiasm of volunteers. The bulk of politics is done by the unpaid. These tireless souls who turn out in all weather, follow their party around the country and loyally do whatever is asked over them cannot be thanked enough. And yet we’re appalling at doing just that – thanking them.
We have to remember that our activists don’t have to turn out to support our campaigns – they’re free agents who could just as easily stay in bed or go shopping. Often they’re not quite as driven as those running the campaigns or doing politics professionally, but want to do their bit. And so we need to take care of them.
We need to remember that every activist has a whole life we don’t see – from the morning run, the day at work, the social and private life to juggle, and, somewhere, they manage to find time to campaign for us. Often youth activists receive the worst treatment – perhaps more unwilling to stand up to co-ordinators, they’re given endless leaflets to deliver, for little thanks. As a movement it’s imperative we learn to manage our volunteers and take proper interest in them, seeing them as individuals rather than mere grunts to do the boring work. This starts with thanking them, properly, repeatedly, and sincerely. And it extends to doing what we can to make their campaigning experience more enjoyable – a free lunch here, a post-campaign pint there, rotating their schedule some everyone gets some variety and not endless tedium. We ask so much of them, they demand so little of us – let’s try to treat them more like the unsung heroes of politics that they are.
Continuing our series exploring Morton Blackwell’s Laws of the Public Policy Process.
14. Remember the other side has troubles too.
The money is running out, you’re behind on your delivery schedule and wish you had more time to prepare for that debate. It’s easy to think that you, and your campaign, is the only one that isn’t running with millpond calm. In reality every campaign has troubles, bottlenecks and challenges to be surmounted. It’s important never to forget that the your opponent(s) will be having similar issues.
During Boris Johnson’s mayoral campaign we saw the truth of this Law. Whatever problems Team Boris may have had (there must have been some!) what became apparent as the campaign drew on was that Ken didn’t have the men. His campaign lacked activists. This was so ably demonstrated one Sunday when we got word that Ken was to attend a meeting of the Polish community in Balham. Team Boris had such strong activist support that we could keep Boris flanked, maintain our distribution schedule, AND send a half dozen of our team over to Ken’s meeting to leaflet, extol policy and give the [now former] Mayor a warm welcome when he arrived.
As activists, the need to keep perspective applies to us, too. Often, if not always, you’ll be juggling your political life with a full time job, or studies, or a bit of both. It can feel that you don’t have enough time to do it all. Remember though that every activist and candidate is in the same boat. Maybe you’re running for an election and worry that your opponent will be better prepared than you. In reality, they’ll be as stretched as you are. With a sound team and a well structured plan, you’ll make the best of it.
Continuing our series exploring Morton Blackwell’s Laws of the Public Policy Process.
13. Don’t make the perfect the enemy of the good.
As activists, and as I so often comment on this blog, so much of what draws we young people into politics are lofty ideals and creeds. We can recount a roll-call of heroes, from philosophers to statesmen, and clamour of their ilk ‘now more than ever’. And it’s right that we do – we draw our inspiration from those titans of the past. But often, when we look at our elected officials, we see them going ‘native’ – seeming to surrender their youthful idealism and become complicit in the grey and murky carryings on of elected politicians. It’s as if the longer they spend in the House, the more their strength of will is diluted. We, on the sidelines, can’t fathom it. If we were in power, it’d be so different, we muse.
This rule should be the prism to understanding that apparent waning of conviction by those who claim to represent us. In politics, you often can’t have it all. If we scrutinize our favourite politicians, we’ll find that there have been times when they too have had to compromise. It’s much better to compromise and achieve at least a half of what you set out to achieve, than to stick resolutely to an all-or-nothing doctrine, and end up achieving nothing; though that’s not to excuse every politician who seems to cave in!
As activists, we should always strive to achieve all we set out to, but be prepared to comprise to achieve as much as is practicable. That means not raising up the drawbridge, but keeping open communications with the other side. They maybe wrong, but if we treat them decently we have both the moral high ground as well as a better chance of reaching a more profitable compromise. Within our own movement, too, there are plenty we disagree with. There too, we should focus on what binds us together, not what pushes us apart. For we conservatives, that’s freedom. In the pursuit of our ideals we shouldn’t blind ourselves to the realities of what’s possible, lest we set out desiring everything, and end up, with nothing.
