Speaking generally I think Peter is becoming somewhat pessimistic about politics as he gets on. While not of his years I cannot identify any good old days when politicians were above human frailty.

I've found that our politicians, of the left or right, have almost always been a dour derivative bunch.

If someone points to Gough as the exception - he would have truly served the voters well if he stayed in longer. But that takes rat cunning in addition to the higher political plain (that Peter yearns for).

Politics as it relates to the voters has been dead for quite some time: And I dont see Peters comment as a leftist whinge - and thats a phrase straight from Andrew Bolts lexicon of derision.
I no longer think the divide between the left and right is that significant; what is problematic is the divide between those who are genuinely interested in the well being of their neighbour and those who are not.

But aportioning blame to either side of politics denies the reality of contemporary change. There is no longer time to continue to renegotiate the social contract on any front.

Where we once had the luxury of time to mull over the introduction of new technologies the average punter is now swamped with new ideas developing at an exponential rate - look at the brou haha over reproductive technology; for better or worse we were knee deep in IVF kids before the community could say happy birthday; and the ethical challenges keep on coming. The law makers and the community are always stuck playing catch up football to the pioneers of thought.

Over arching Politcal systems are not much different. The challenges facing politicians also arrive at a much faster rate than they have the capacity to manage. Few issues are home grown; most have an international perspective and wave after wave of new ideas need to be addressed within shorter time frames; politicians more and more interested in the concept of power for its own sake will exploit this fact.

Consultation is meagre, decisions are made at an executive level, debate is stifled, dissent is dealt with harshly; all that coupled with no vision sees the voter out in the cold.

I dont see it as necessarily a creature of the neo cons; succesive government embrace centralisation and a minimalist appraoch to consultation - it suits them. Its gets their ideas across the line.

I am not as pessimistic as Peter. But a change will only come from a leader who is prepared lose an election on a principle with an eye on the future.

Peter,

As a mature 'ager with a political science degree majoring in International Relations, would like your opinion on economic rationalism - first promoted by Bob Hawk - being regarded as a doctrine aligning Labor and Liberal too close for political commonsense?

Some say Labor would probably be safer if it stuck to its allotted role of social democracy.

Regards,

George C - (Bushbred)

Makes perfect sense to me. "Politics" is now a career, not a calling. That politicians never experience business in any shape or form, but simply work the party system to become elected, is today the norm rather than the exception. This applies equally to both sides of the political fence. Their limited collective experience is one of the reasons we have a bloated, inefficient bureaucracy running this country, hell-bent on finding more rules to impose, and more laws to choke the life out of any initiative or originality.

It is all very well to say "'twas ever thus", but the compounding effect of a massive public service that needs to justify its existence by continually growing, and a political class that concerns itself with i) the next election, ii) awarding itself more pay and iii) demanding, and receiving, obscene superannuation and perks, has brought us to a very sad place indeed.

Peter,

Politics is counting heads.

Direction is Left or Right.

The Hard Left lost the economic debate in Australia with the success of the Hawke/Keating economic program.

However the opportunities delivered by Labor in terms of education and participation are worth noting heavily.

"Education, Education, Education" which could equally mean "the Ladder of Opportuinity" is the new mantra as is "social obligation".

The Hard Left lost - get over it and think about all the great things Hawke/Keating did to improve all our lives,

Corin

Many concepts have been prematurely pronounced dead - history, god, tyranny, and poverty come to mind, and now politics. As some posters have pointed out, politics is a dynamic thing and has always undergone change, so the fact that it has changed does not mean it has died. However politics has become very corporatised since the 80's, and in doing so its lofty aims have been replaced with the business principles of competition, market forces, and shareholder return. In a sense this does destroy its soul. Art, elite sport, religion, and charity have also become largely corporatised and in the process lost most of their spirit.

I dont think we can lay all the blame for this on multinationals - they may epitomise coporatisation, but I suspect we are all becoming more corporatised. We increasingly view ouselves in terms of market segments and niches, and our lives focus more on short term returns and less on intangibles. As the philospher Baudrillard said, "our political authorities themeselves are but mere shadows of their declared functions", but perhaps they are only mirroring their constituents.