More questions for Spring: How would the project work in relation to The Scottish Parliament?

Photo of the Holyrood Parliament in Edinburgh, by Chris Flexen on Unsplash

Another question raised by Bella Caledonia around our Spring launch is: How would the project work within Holyrood? How would it avoid being absorbed? And/or, how does it relate to the project of Scottish self-determination?

The best example we can give comes from the Devon-originated democracy movement Flatpack Democracy. Their strategy was to attain representation for community networks on the council (Frome was their flagship example.). As a whole, the movement hadn’t advanced beyond the parish level, due to the first-past-the-post electoral system in operation..

But FD were conducting experiments everywhere they were elected. They flourished specifically in Plymouth. “The State of Us” events were a manifestation of what we describe as a “citizens’ action network” (or CAN). A new Flatpack-inspired Party (Change for Plymouth) will try to represent that in the city council.

Translate this process to The Scottish Parliament: a Spring party would stand for participative and deliberative democratic practice, based on a culture of working together towards eco-civilisation.. What would be implied by its presence in the Holyrood chamber is what David Bollier calls an “onto-shift”, a change in the frame of reality implied by politics. For us, it also implies an embrace of arts/culture, mindfulness and advanced tech as a way to access that reality.

So independence at the national level is one thing - but independence drawing strength from the alignment of personal, social and global perspectives (I - We - World) is a further deepening of self-determination and autonomy. This is closer to traditions of social anarchism and mutual aid than anything else. Representatives voice for that style and form of power and agency, at the heart of “official” politics.

See also our categories for Democratic Innovation, Political Culture, Anarchism, Socio-Politics.