How does party culture shape the political experience?
We all too often tend to regard the influence that political parties have over their candidates in terms of strategy and policy. Yet, we would be foolish to ignore the intangible importance of party culture. Every individual within a political party needs a solid understanding of what is expected of them; party culture shapes the experience of this expectation, and the management of inevitable intra-party conflict. The Silent MP chats with Paul Boughey, former CEO of South Africa’s Democratic Alliance, who first reminds us of Peter Drucker’s famous adage:
‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’.
Paul begins by explaining to the Silent MP the significance of a diversity of voices within the party. Not many are getting this right, he says, especially in heterogenous countries. An inclusive culture spawns a proactive party and keeping people together around a common sense of values is really the true test of leadership. Invoking a sporting analogy, Paul explains:
‘If you’ve got a team of megastars you still want strength in depth, you have to keep the players who might not play happy too’.
Rather than relying on a few heavy-hitters, Paul believes that the party is best served by taking the time to learn and utilise the various skillsets of its individuals. Speaking of his own time in South African politics, a proportional representation system, candidates are allocated a constituency. In this sense, the link between the politician and the constituency is (often, but not always) artificial. Hence, an extra responsibility lies with the party leaders and decision makers to create a culture in which candidates are able to differentiate their skillsets, in order to suit the needs of these allocated constituencies. This should not be a one size fits all approach, Paul says, telling the Silent MP of his own experiences: ‘there has been a quite mechanical approach at times’.
Enforcing a uniform party culture, unsurprisingly, tends to produce uniform candidates; each candidate becomes incentivised to do the same thing, and they inevitably trip over each other.
An open dialogue between candidate and leadership is equally important; the candidate must be able to approach the leadership and ask, “I come here with this level of expertise, I think I would be best suited to x frontline role, or y supporting role”. Paul tells us that this form of open dialogue within the party is often mutually beneficial for all involved.
Despite this, it is rare that we find a political party acting in such an inclusive and open manner. ‘Often in politics’, Paul explains, ‘loyalty is valued above all else’. Instead of placing candidates into positions that maximise certain skills, all too often they are placed in roles solely to maximise political capital. According to Paul, this is where problems arise.
In a proportional representation system, being in favour with the leadership is paramount. If you are a politician that isn’t in the inner circle, Paul says, you must be strategic with which battles to fight, and perhaps take a longer-term view. Yet, what sets political parties apart from other conventional organisations is that competence can frequently be viewed as a threat amongst the leadership. Similarly, even though party members are (supposedly) on the same team, they often quite delight in each other’s failure.
These are the cracks of navigating life as a politician, Paul tells us. We know it is difficult to balance being true to your own abilities and standing up for yourself, whilst at the same time avoid alienating others. Ultimately though, the culture of the party has the largest sway in terms of influencing the political experience. The tone is set by the leadership, who perhaps would be wise to realise the value of nurturing an inclusive and diverse party culture.
