Though not Catholic I am drawn to Catholic Social Teaching as a model for good governance in politics. There needs to be a moral element to politics if the ultimate aim is to improve people’s lives and though left and right wing ideologies may differ on how this is to be achieved the principles of Catholic Social Teaching seem to transcend these ideologies. I guess with the preferential option for the poor the pendulum is more to the left but then no one could accuse Jesus of hanging out with the rich people!
I know little of this teaching but I am reading a very interesting book called ‘The New Politics’ which is based on a series of lectures given by leading figures in this field.
These authors suggest:
“that the tenets of Catholic Social Teaching offer clear pointers in a different direction from contemporary society’s continuing emphasis on individual rights at the expense of a sense of social responsibilities”
From the little I have read there are three principles to Catholic Social Teaching.
Common good: there exist some shared or public values which transcend the rights of individuals
Subsidarity: that decisions should be taken at the lowest level possible which is compatible with good government
Solidarity: we are all responsible for one another
My feeling is that within the council the concepts of common good and solidarity come naturally as we do have a strong sense that we have a responsibility for the good of the island and its people
Subsidarity is an interesting one because we do not have much control over this. It rather depends on what you mean by decisions. Yes Legislative Council pass laws for the island, committees are involved in policy decisions but I have to say as grant in aid and a Territory our ability to influence the island’s future does seem rather limited.
What I am not sure about is whether these limitations are because we are not financially self-sufficient or because we are a territory. I suspect both.
Financial self-sufficiency is the goal of airport and increased economic development and our role in that is to promote and facilitate development while ensuring that this development is for the common good.
The role of Legislative Council within the context of a British Overseas Territory is I think more interesting and challenging. We are parliament, local council and everything in between. We are sort of a democracy in that there are free and fair elections but some executive power is held by an unelected Governor. The Legislative Council has very little independent support; there are no political parties and the Civil Service answers to a number of different masters of which Legislative Council is only one. There is a constitution but like any legal document it is open to interpretation and Legislative Council does not have access to independent legal advice. British Overseas Territories are not directly represented in the UK Parliament. If, as I believe we do, we need to reform the operation of the legislature then I am not sure that there is a template to be taken off the shelf, dusted down and then implemented.
St Helena Government has had a multitude of reviews, changes, restructuring and reorganisations in the last few years. There appeared to be a number of incarnations of the Public Service Modernisation Programme. I am not suggesting that the Legislature goes down this torturous route but I do think that an organisation such as the Westminster Foundation for Democracy could be invited to have a look at our democratic framework and see where we can improve particularly in promoting Subsidarity.
Something to explore in the New Year.
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