Can the Conservative/Liberal coalition listen to those who can’t speak?

All governments have to shore up their power base, I know this; but for coalitions this is a more pressing priority than for a one party government. Now that a coalition is in place in UK politics between two very different parties, there is a danger that in seeking to consolidate their own power bases, the parties will have to align themselves with the powerful and ignore the powerless. So who will they represent first?

I was recently consulting for a secular NGO in Turkey who are doing great work improving access to education for women and the poor. They wanted help in improving their stakeholder relationships – in other words, which organisations that they were connected with could help them the most?

Enter the Stakeholder Salience Model (see below) by Mitchell, R, Agle, B & Wood, D (1997), Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: defining the principles of who and what really counts. Academy of Management Review, 22(4).

My team identified the most important organisations to this NGO on the basis of the amount power they had, how legitimate their cause was, and how urgent their needs were. Those who were dominant in all three categories entered what we technically called The Sweet Spot. “Get closest to them” we advised, “they are the most important to you.”

Now if I were a political strategist for a coalition party I would be doing the same exercise. Who can exercise the most power and influence over my party? Whose needs are the most urgent in society? Who have the most legitimate causes? In other words, who is in my political Sweet Spot?

I have no doubt that something like this discussion will now take place within the parties. Who will they fight for, and what causes shall they defend? Great stuff I think at first. But governments are not like NGO’s. There are many worthy charities and causes out there who sit comfortably in the Sweet Spot for governments to work with, but what of those who fall outside of it?  

Women and children come to mind first, and I don’t mean those who fall into the remit of powerful lobbyist, they are too Sweet Spot. I mean, for example, what about those from immigrant families who are illegal? The powerless and often illegitimate are the most disenfranchised people in society, and as we know, not having a voice can lead to future anger. Political parties stoke up trouble for the future by ignoring the powerless because they will be provoked to angry reaction.

I am not a fan of coalitions, I worry that the nature of politics means that when governments are weakened by coalitions they cannot afford to work on causes that do not also in some way improve their chances of re-election. Worse, those who exist outside the Sweet Spot may be damaging for a party to commit to (immigration being a hot button issue particularly right now) therefore, far from representing more people (as pro-coalitionists argue), coalitions can only represent themselves. I hope I am wrong about this.

Peace for the future cannot be secured by not listening to those who can’t speak today. Prime Minister David Cameron and Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg have produced some fine rhetoric. I just hope that their coalition can deliver the goods.