American style politics in the UK

There was a lot of talk at the time of the election about the introduction of televised debates and how our election campaigns are becoming more and more like American ones and how this is a bad thing. I'm in favour of televised debates myself. I think they are a chance to move away from soundbite politics and give people more of a chance to see what they are voting for.

It's interesting though that we seem to have got not just one but two type 3 leaders out of it, which with America being a type 3 culture would seem to back up those claims. Both David Cameron and Nick Clegg have that shiny, scrubbed 3 look, and both have got to high positions relatively young, which shows ambition. Gordon Brown showed many times (not just in the debates) that type 3 people skills aren't his forte and this has worked against him. He was popular as a chancellor but it looks like he shouldn't be allowed to go out and talk to voters.

We live in the information age, and I love it because I remember when the world wide web was science fiction. I'm optimistic about how it will affect the way we are governed because the greater the amount of information that is available to people, the better chance they have to make informed decisions.

But on the other hand, it can lead to dumbing down and lack of openness as people are afraid to say anything that might be controversial. I guess we all need to brush up on our type 3 self-representation skills in the information age. And maybe cut people a bit more slack when they slip up and act like human beings.