Competing for Airtime: Is the future of participation corporate, social or political?
21 May 2007, Local Government House, Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HZ
Speakers: John Denham MP, Arlo Brady (Freud Communications) Andy Martin (Cancer Research) Scott Keiller (Starbucks) Polly Billington (The Today Programme) Simon Atkinson (Ipsos-MORI)
Chair: Stella Creasy
The seminar began with a presentation from Mori’s Simon Atkinson, which highlighted the move from traditional forms of political participation and public disillusionment with elected officials and political institutions. Atkinson considered the high levels of participation in charitable activities and the rise of consumer activism, particularly in light of recent concern for the environment.
Simon Atkinson's presentation if available to download here.
Scott Keiller set out Starbucks’ role in revitalising the public realm through their joint programme with the Royal Society of Arts in which over 3,000 people took part in conversations hosted by Starbucks’ talking about the issues which concerned them. Following questions about the representativeness of such a programme Keiller argued Starbucks’ was not trying to replace more accountable forms of engagement, but instead offering new forms of participation that could reach people who currently have little interest in traditional forums.
Andy Martin from Cancer Research considered what lessons could be drawn from high levels of participation in charities noting that advocacy and “individual involvement in the cause” was a key driver for participation. Introducing the idea of “self-actualised” volunteers, Martin noted their involvement is largely influenced by an awareness of political and social factors and that trust is an important feature of their relationship with the charity. However, Polly Billington argued the public’s perception of NGOs led to levels of trust which were not always justified. Martin concurred that accountability, particularly scrutiny from the media, will become much more important for charitable organisations as a result of increasing public involvement in the sector.
Arlo Brady drew on the success of his involvement with Live Earth and Make Poverty History campaigns to outline the factors he felt most important to engaging individuals. Elaborating on Andy Martin’s point about public trust in charities, Brady noted that social legitimacy with the target audience was underpinned by the extent to which an organisation appeared honest and consistent. By adopting a partnership approach movements like Make Poverty History created in participants the feeling of being part of a community – Brady concluded that this was key to the campaigns success.
Polly Billington focussed her discussion on the idea of political dissent, arguing it that freedom to dissent has been a long celebrated British political tradition but was open to abuse in some parts of the media. However, she argued that the current appetite for consensus in participation should not preclude the freedom to disagree stating: “talking about the issues does not necessarily lead to rationality”.
The panel: Scott Keiller, Andy Martin, John Denham MP, Stella Creasy, Simon Atkinson, Polly Billington and Arlo Brady.
John Denham began by questioning the underlying assumptions of what ‘politics’ is. Denham picked up on Billington’s points emphasising what he called the “arbitrary division in the media between the political and non-political” which, he claimed, leads to a separation of party politics from other forms of politics. Denham argued that the ‘political’ needed to be redefined and made relevant to citizens in order to increase public trust in formal political mechanisms. Denham argued that recent trends of voter turnout did not change the fundamental truth that “if choices are real and matter to people, they will vote”.
L: Andy Martin, John Denham MP and Stella Creasy.
R: Polly Billington and Arlo Brady.
In response to a question about the role of consumers in changing companies’ behaviour Brady stated categorically “ethical consumerism changes businesses”, arguing that while business has been responsive to consumer demands, government has been much slower at responding to public trends. Denham argued that was often Government which stimulated the development of new social trends, giving the example of the ‘5 portions a day’ slogan, which is now used as an effective marketing tool by the private sector. Denham argued that politicians can harness ethical consumerism for policy needs such as anti-social behaviour.The session concluded with an observation from Simon Atkinson that any participatory form must consider the limitations on individuals’ time: “people are very busy”.
