(This is an archived extract from the book Patterns of Power: Edition 2)
Voting for the manifesto of a political party appears to offer a mechanism for those who wish to steer their governance, but this process has practical limitations. A single vote to choose a party is an endorsement of all of the aspects of that party’s programme – it isn’t possible to pick and mix policies from different parties. The best that can be achieved is that the voter has some basis for making a choice and can choose not to vote for parties with unacceptable policies.
Circumstances change between elections, so both people and politicians have to accept that there must be a degree of latitude in manifestos. A manifesto which focuses more on ideology and strategic objectives is less vulnerable to change than one which tries to provide details of implementation; it is also easier to vote for, because it demands less effort and less knowledge from the voters than one which offers a lot of information.
© PatternsofPower.org, 2014