The Parliamentary System and the “shuffle” — a legislative ammendment
If you are not me, and not into poli sci then this is a super boring post.
if you dont know much about the parliamentary system then this is about how the ministries work with the political wing. basically there is a top bureaucrat who knows the ministry, then a minister is chosen for that file.
now the key issue i have is that the bureaucrat knows the bureaucracy. the minister is most likely not educated at all on the file. so no one actually knows the subject matter.
the end result is that no body with academic, experiential or even a theoretical knowledge of the ministry takes over a portfolio. this is the parliamentary system everywhere.
in addition, you cant bring an industry person to run it like you can in the US. there are pros and cons to both systems.
the main issue at hand is that when these files did not have academic schools behind them, a lay person could run them. but most of them now have complete academic schools. the scholarship in these fields has become very effective. data analytics and the social sciences have given rise to some of the most advanced knowledge basis on how to manage these files.
the most effective legislative change that can be made to the parliamentary system globally is to insert a layer of experts. either via a think tank that joins the entire government body under one umbrella to analytically study and recommend policy actions and how to implement them, or even ministry by ministry.
let us take a very common example these days. for reasons that are pointless to understand there is a resistance in small communities to the whole debate about where trans folks go to the bathroom. let us say a government comes in and they are anti-trans in the womens bathroom.
the problem can be broken up differently.
- go to the community and study the reason for the resistance
- design a solution to address their needs.
most places in cities dont have segregated bathrooms. its just a conservation of space issue. in addition, the womens bathroom is always the most used. so join the bathrooms and have higher stalls.
alot of concerns can be designed away.
the best example of this is the bathroom at the NAC stage 5. its open and accessible and only the stalls are completely walled up.
many communities have issues that we simply have not paid attention to. so its high time we brought the academia and industry into the government so ministers are actually educated on the solutions they have available to them.
everyones concerns are valid. often we just dont have the right english to say what we are feeling. lets study the issues and design proper solutions that address the needs of all communities.
