The Flatpack Revolution. Patrick and Peter Macfadyen in webinar conversation.
Patrick and Peter Macfadyen (author of Flatpack Democracy) discuss local democracy in a Globalnet 21 webinar.
Patrick's webinar conversation with Peter Macfadyen for Globalnet21 is embedded below. Worth looking out for is the section in which Peter talks about the simple values by which Frome Council has been run by 17 independent councillors, in close collaboration with the local community.
No grudges - if you lose a debate or vote, don't let that affect your behaviour in the next one.
Be prepared to change your mind - listen more than talk, receive rather than broadcast, and be open to altering your opinion as a result of respectful deliberation.
Encourage diversity - not just demographic and ethnic diversity, but a diversity of political views. Although all 17 town councillors are independent of any major party, there is a range of political views, from across the spectrum, represented on the council.
Hearing him speak like this was both refreshing and frustrating. It sounds so simple, and so sensible, but it is also so profoundly different from the conflict-based, "pantomime politics" that is the defining characteristic of national (so called) "democracy".