redefining politics part 1: understanding and developing political themes

8/6/2019 Redefining Politics Part 1: Understanding and Developing Political Themes

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Redefining Politics 1:Redefining Politics 1:Understanding &Understanding &

Developing ThemesDeveloping Themes

Copyright 2011, Semantech Inc., All Rights Reserved

Presented by Stephen Lahanas

Applied InnovationApplied Innovation



3Copyright 2011, Semantech Inc.

Introduction

³ While all other sciences have advanced, that of government is at a standstill - little better understood, little better practiced now than three or four thousand years ago.´

- John Adams

� Even today Politics and Government still do notkeep pace with the advances in the rest of society.

T his presentation is the first of several which willexplore how to transform the practice of politicsand better link it to policy performance.




Political Strategy

� Political Strategy today is generally confined tomessaging campaigns and traditional electionsupport facilitation.

� While there have been some advances over the past

decade in particular, the basic assumptions for thepractice of politics haven¶t changed much over thepast 50 years (since the transition of mass mediacommunications to television).

� Over the next 50 years our society is likely toexperience our greatest challenges ever ± politicsand government must become problem solvingmechanisms«




Politics must be more than a popularity contest«




T he Importance of T hemes

� PoliticalT

hemes are more than the basis of messaging campaigns ± themes represent thesemantic foundation for belief systems andsubsequent policy mechanisms.

T hemes are important because they allowconstituents to identify belief systems and toassociate those with anticipated policy outcomes.

If T hemes are too difficult to follow or identify thenthe political entities (groups or candidates) will notbe able to build effective campaigns or policyagendas.




Political T hemes ± T he Rules

� PoliticalT

hemes when grouped together representthe Political Foundation for any given group or candidate.

T here should not be more than 3 core PoliticalT hemes; however there can be many related sub -

themes.

T hemes should map directly to the key politicaldimensions. T hemes should also map directly toopposition themes.

� Valid T hemes require a number of prerequisites.




D efining Political T hemes




Political D imensions

There are three distinct Political

Dimensions.

1. T he Political D imension ± T his represents howpeople view their government as well as political

values & philosophies.2. T he Economic D imension ± T his dimensionrepresents how people view economic policy andphilosophy.

3.T

he PersonalD

imension ±T

his dimensionscaptures the personal expectations of constituentsas well as a general sense of what the ³individual´represents within a society.




Political Foundation

� A Political Foundation represents the sum total of the core T hemes as well as related sub - themes.

T he Foundation also captures related assumptions

objectives and pre -requisites for success.T he Foundation acts as the backbone for larger,more complex Political Frameworks .

� Foundations do not exist in isolation ± theyrepresent ecosystems within ecosystems and mustbe cognizant of all perspectives to succeed.




Foundation Prerequisites

� Every Political Foundation must adhere to threebasic prerequisites «

1.Logical Consistency ± T he T hemes must be

consistent with theD

imensions and with eachother. All of that must be consistent as theframework is built around it.

2. Clear Values Statement ± T he Values Statement is

also the single organizing principle that links allthree T hemes.3.Clear Mission Statement ± D efining this helps to

more clearly link goals to outcomes.




Politics begins with Semantics

T he Message is the Medium




Political Frameworks

� Political Frameworks represent the collection of tools and knowledge developed atop the PoliticalFoundation.

� A Framework requires a unique, detailed PoliticalOntology to define all potential elements of politicalknowledge and action.

� We will define a proposed Political Ontology in³Redefining Politics part 2´.

� Political Frameworks are where political practiceand technology intersect.




Political Framing

� Frameworks and Framing are two very differentthings. Frameworks are resources«

� Political Framing is all about defining dialectic

boundaries. Framing activities build upon thePolitical Foundation & Political Frameworks ±Framing represents a Political D iscipline.

� PoliticalD

isciplines are different than PoliticalResources ± they consist of distinct processmethodologies. We will examine Political Framingin ³Redefining Politics part 3´.




Politics is Power, Knowledge is Power ±Politics can be knowledgeable«




Conclusion

T he InnovationWorx Redefining Politics Series willexamine many of the topics introduced here inmore detail.

T he goal of this series is to highlight a newapproach to Politics and also to illustrate anexample of Applied Innovation.

� Semantech Innovation Worx provides strategicpolitical consulting as well as policy consulting andpolitical framework automation.




Semantech Inc. is InnovationWorx

� Semantech Inc. is a solutions provider founded in2007. Our company is located in the D ayton, Ohiometro area. Since our inception we havesupported clients in a more than half a dozen

industries nationwide.

� Our company represents a unique approach ±we¶re not offering just I T or Management

Consulting. We specialize in facilitating complexorganizational T ransformations. T his is whyInnovation Worx was created. Semantech wasfounded to facilitate change«

redefining politics part 1: understanding and developing political themes

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