The long term implication: A short term policy

Political marketing can be a useful tool as it prompts parties to evaluate citizens’ concerns and provides opportunity for discussion regarding party goals. Simultaneously, democratic processes risk being damaged if higher values are placed on party popularity over societal needs. Market-oriented parties can bypass engaging the community and prioritise appeasing industry interest and particular electorates to sustain themselves. This creates a need for political parties and media outlets to report direct, open and detailed policy agenda in a well-paced manner, enabling citizens to interact more democratically. This process could encourage more rigorous political discussion and longer-term improvements.

Communication is the most essential mode of campaigning; advancement in technology has influenced political approaches to advertising. (Rosenbaum 1997). Since the introduction of television in the 1950s, the media landscape has changed rapidly to the point where the current 24-hour news cycle can reduce the depth of political analysis. Politicians can make concise, memorable and captivating statements, rather than comprehensive policy discussion. The attention span of Australian society is conditioned to be shorter, leading to a likelihood of fickle judgment, hence political party reliance on frequent public polls to maintain interest and party popularity. Who takes the most responsibility for the break down in valuable democratic debate – the media, Australian citizens, or politicians? Whilst many web, newspaper and television programs are represented as free, independent, impartial sources of information, offering opportunities for public opinion, audiences need to be highly critical of content. There are dozens of media outlets in Australia, however there are only two feeder-sources; Sky Television and The Australian Newspaper. Once parties release their bias approaches to political issues through these channels, most mainstream reporting is liable to adapted party propaganda, limiting the potential for true agenda analysis. Citizens also have a responsibility in validating the legitimacy of political press since the media is a profit-driven industry whereby consumer demand dictates content somewhat. The press can also make decisions about the presentation of information on behalf of the viewer. Rosenbaum (1997) alludes to this when he states:

“If ordinary viewers wanted their main news bulletins to abandon nice pictures of party leaders in favour of worthy argument about detailed policies, then that is what would happen. But they don’t, so it doesn’t”. (p.101).

In many circumstances the popularity of content is crowned with scandal rather than thoroughly evaluated content focused upon actions based on moral principles. The fluidity of modern media positions politicians to exhibit transparency and be instantly accountable, heightening the challenge to control public perception. Nevertheless, parties and their members also have more resources available to gain popularity. Public polls are collected fortnightly and parties can adjust agenda and image to maintain popularity, arguably a counter-productive method of leadership. The space remains for increasing the quality and rigor of interactions between the public and policy makers. If the media released original policy agenda documents and approached primary sourced political issues with more aptness and discernment, Australia would benefit from a higher standard of democratic debate.

In the instance where political parties largely determine the press and citizens lack analysis regarding policies, parties are placed to gain popularity through short-term strategies. Gordon (2014) observed that the Labor party attempted to reclaim marginal seats through an expenditure projection, close to $20M for local schools. Extinguishing this problem with a short-term solution leaves the party vulnerable to future implications such as; criticisms about equity and future electorate demands. A more ambitious, strategic approach to building teaching capacity can support all students in their learning. Whilst obtaining marginal seats could be achieved through investment in grounds at several local schools, a more comprehensive approach may yield greater rewards. For example, prioritising funds based on long term educational improvement: This includes resources for schools which demonstrates greater needs, supports for special needs, professional development for teachers, evaluation of education and the balancing of decentralisation and centralisation of administration – allowing schools to work within their context, drawing on the capacity of teachers to meet the needs of students.

Political party publicity and Labor’s reactionary spending demonstrates how decisions can be complicated by superficial strategies to maintain power, ironically reducing overall influence. More transparent and in-depth media reports coupled with providing increased education and participatory opportunities for meaningful, constructive citizen interaction in democratic processes would ensure the concerns and resources of the community are administered more appropriately.

References

Gordon, J 2014, Labor Woos the School Vote’, The Age, March 20 March, p. 3.

Rosenbaum, M 1997. From Soapbox to Soundbite: Party Political Campaigning in Britain since 1945, MacMillan Press Ltd., London