Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Great leaders

There's local and general elections here in Portugal next Sunday.
All big parties have for the general and even for the local elections, outdoors and activities all based in personalities and persons, I think this is happening in all World...I don't know why we don't trust teams anymore and have to individualize politics everywhere, in democracies as in ditactorships...
I don't like this and I think it's not healthy.





Vão ocorrer brevemente eleições locais e nacionais aqui em Portugal, todos os grandes partidos centram as campanhas, quer locais, quer nacionais na figura de líderes, não sei como chegámos aqui e acho que isto não acontece só em Portugal mas em todo o Mundo, nas democracias, como nas ditaduras...
Não gosto e não acho que seja saudável...

10 comments:

  1. As a forethought I must say that I thought you liked Obama and what he represents...

    The contenders in the electoral campaign in Portugal are the existing political parties. These parties have put forward their candidate lists - I guess you can call them "teams" - for people to vote on. Teams obviously have to have some kind of structure and organization to be effective and efficient and so they usually have a lider and a couple of prevailing figures who represent the party in the media. What alternative would you suggest?

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  2. I like Obama and I think leadership is in great need, more even so in Europe than in the States...what I don't like is centering campaigns for colegial organs in the figure of single persons, like Socrates or Ferreira Leite, even the Bloco de Esquerda is pushing much Francisco Louçã...in every Municipality, we only have outdoors and even activities centered in the persons of mayors.
    I would like to have more light over the actual policies they're going to implement, the actions they preconize...(sorry for the english)

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  3. I think they're have been quite a few good debates and tons of opinion columns published during the campaign which have revolved around ideas and principles... And you cannot but associate these proposed principles and ideas to the people who claim they'll see them through if you vote for them, right?

    Of course you could always vote on individual issues through referenda like the Swiss... However, if you overdo it you might just end up as bankrupt as California...

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  4. Not quite, Claudia...I don't agree that you have to referend everything and the problem with California is that they tried to be socialist in policies and liberal in taxes.
    I think in Portugal at least now, you just have visibility at leader level, most of the debates were with them only, very few respected national figures in the political parties...we don't have a clear idea of who are going to be the ministers, even the prime minister said in a debate that he was going to sack all ministers and have a complete new ministery, like if people were perfectly interchable except for him, of course...

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  5. Shame on me...the only proposition I have, I don't follow it myself : came out, choose a party, choose a cause, engage yourself, be active, participate, remember : Think globaly, act localy...
    Also, a coleague was telling me today, with the actual context, we in Portugal should try to build a consensus, define clearly the strategy for the country and make it a goal to everybody. People may come, people may go, but the people will preservere that way.

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  6. Well... Basically what you're proposing has nothing to do with the campaign, it's an individual polical posture you advocate.

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  7. yes, you're right on that one...but a posture that would change everything, renew the political personel and make politicals accountable to the people in general...

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  8. Glad we got that clear. I though that's probably what you meant when you started writing your post.

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  9. Right on, Claudia...I guess you're quite active yourself...and Teresa is also active.

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