Italy’s new government will be made up mainly of non-political, technical experts. But democracy requires politicians, not technocrats, to make decisions and to be accountable to an electorate

The Italian political and economic crisis can only be cured by a government of the technocrats or so we are told.  This is no time for politicians.

Tempting as this may seem after 17 years with a controversial and undignified plutocrat as prime minister, this cannot be right in any democracy.  Politics, political leadership, political choice, political scrutiny and political accountability are essential in any free and prosperous economy and society. Political passion (if one may use this term when mentioning Italian government) is essential to drive change; as are political values and principles.

One wonders how long a government of technocrats can survive, and how it can sustain the support and necessary authority of the people to govern especially as it is intent on taking some hard and unpopular decisions.

Of course, the idea that if only the politicians would step aside and leave it all to the professional managers is not new.  It is often said that local government would be better if only the politics could be taken away and the officers left to manage it.   Such an approach would be plain wrong.

It is too easy and too common for people to be cynical about politicians and those who seek political office at local or national level. Much of the media are guilty of encouraging popular cynicism and mistrust in politicians, including councillors and directly-elected mayors.

Local government is precisely that – the government of local place. It is not some administrative or professional set of functions.  We fortunately still have local government and not local administration in the UK, which means we have local accountability for the actions of local authorities. Local government is fundamentally political for it is about:

•   articulating the voices of local citizens and representing them; and lifting and promoting the aspirations and needs of local communities

•   place-shaping – setting the vision for the locality and co-ordinating and influencing all public, private and third-sector stakeholders to maximise community well being

•   allocating public resources and making the necessary ‘trade-offs’ between competing demands

•   mediating and prioritising between competing demands and expectations within the community

•   protecting members of society and in particular the most vulnerable

•   securing public services to achieve outcomes on behalf of the citizens to protect them; to offer opportunity; and to ensure a quality of life for all citizens

•   raising local taxes

These are political activities which must be made by politicians accountable to the electorate.

Rather than concentrating power in the hands of technocrats or bureaucrats local authorities will be moving in the other direction by devolving decision-making to communities, and budgets to community groups and in some cases directly to citizens, as with direct-care budgets.

Such devolution should not be seen as removing the need for elected councillors, since they have to decide what to devolve, to arbitrate between competing demands and areas, to set the criteria for such devolution and often to work with and support but not seek to control community organisations.

Of course, politicians at central and local level require professional advice and they need executives and managers to implement their decisions.  This is not the same as the politicians standing aside or abdicating their responsibilities to civil servants, council officers or cadres of technocrats.  Indeed a core responsibility of elected politicians especially council leaders is to ensure that their organisations have the best possible professional talent available today and tomorrow.

Politicians should not undertake the tasks and duties best performed by professional staff and professional officers and officials should not seek to perform the role of the politician.  The best local authorities are those that have excellent political and executive leaders who work together as complementary members of the leadership team with the ultimate leadership responsibility and leadership resting firmly with the politician.

Politicians will make mistakes and so will technocrats. In the case of the former there is a clear democratic accountability to the electorate.  The politicians should hold the officials to account and the electorate hold the politicians to account.  However, the buck always ultimately stops with the politician.

It is to be very much hoped that the Italian and Greek governments can and will solve their countries’ economic challenges but they this will require political courage and leadership not simply technocratic solutions just as the challenges facing local communities across our own country require bold, effective, passionate local political leadership.