Matthew Jenkins' BlogA blog about Worcester, politics and the environment

Ben Goldacre, on his Bad Science blog, discusses some research into the effect of corrections on formerly held beliefs. The worrying outcome of this research is that for some people a correction, rather than changing their mind, actually makes them firmer in their belief. For instance:

conservatives who received a correction telling them that Iraq did not have WMD were more likely to believe that Iraq had WMD than people who were given no correction at all. Where you might have expected people simply to dismiss a correction that was incongruous with their pre-existing view, or regard it as having no credibility, it seems that in fact, such information actively reinforced their false beliefs.

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With the coalition government nearly a week old, the question many people are asking is if this is the start of a new politics. A full coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats took most commentators by surprise, including myself. The key to the coalition forming was the agreement to have a referendum on the alternative vote. Both parties moved away from their chosen positions to compromise on this. It will upset a large number of their own members, as has been seen by those leaving the Liberal Democrats to join the Green Party or the Labour Party.

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The Liberal Democrats have a difficult choice to make over this weekend. Do they:

1. Form a coalition with the Conservatives
2. Form an agreement with the Conservatives to work together in some areas, but stop short of forming a coalition
3. Form a coalition with the Labour Party

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With the general election result now in, this is the start of a new kind of politics. One which is less adversarial and more cooperative. The two main parties’ are losing their grip on the political landscape of Great Britain. It is highly likely that at future elections no single party will manage to gain an outright majority. The question is, should this be viewed as a bad thing?

My answer would be that it shouldn’t. It must be seen as an opportunity for politics to move away from the type of politics typified by Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons, to a politics of debate, negotiation and compromise. Most other countries seem to manage this, so why can’t we?