Quote:
Originally Posted by Cube Inmate
I don't quite get this line of thinking -- please explain a bit more. Why is it a bad thing to campaign and govern based on a certain "ideology?" Isn't that just a framework that one uses to understand and connect ideas together, and help govern one's actions? I can certainly understand that you may not agree with a certain ideology, but at least the Cons (in the past) and the NDP have been able to relatively clearly express what they believe in.
|
I don't think either the political left or the right has an exclusive claim to having good policies. I want a government that chooses the best approach based on research and analysis regardless of any particular ideology. For a few Canadian examples, Harper's "tough on crime" agenda (more prisons, mandatory minimum sentences, harsher penalties, expansion of the war on drugs, etc.) comes from his right-wing ideology, but we know from numerous studies and from observing the experience in other countries that this is not good government policy. On the left side of the spectrum, the NDP are always proposing raising the corporate tax rate because of their pro-worker/anti-corporate ideology, but economists will tell you this is one of the most harmful things a government can do to the economy.
In my view, adherence to ideology can often lead to bad policies. Let data and research be the engine to create good policies, not political agendas.