We have become depressingly used to the party political animosity that divides the nation and holds back united efforts to solve the multitude of problems which need our combined human resources. Old antagonisms continue to overwhelm hope of a new era of consultation, consensus and jointly approved programmes for progress.
Democracy ensures, or should ensure, that the differing views, varied cultural persuasions and diverging concepts of how the people’s affairs should be managed are allowed expression and are not ever squeezed into resentful, and eventually festering, silence.
But encouraging plural views to contend often makes day to day government a frustrating business. To those in power, to command and control without question will often seem a more appealing option than to govern through consultation, tactical concession and necessary compromise. Take Leon Trotsky, for instance – he makes a good point but you can also hear him reaching for his gun and sabre when he expresses the dangerous doctrine of necessity:
