Scottish Civic Forum –
an open, transparent and non-coercive vehicle for popular colloquium
George Clark (August 2000) clark@srds.co.uk
for acknowledgments click HERE
A concept paper to spark discussion
A Civic Forum must allow for:
- colloquia (talking together)
- correspondence
- complete autonomy and independence
- full responsibility to individuals and groups
- free agreement between those who think it useful to come together for co-operative
action for common aims
Participants must accept a moral duty to fulfil their pledges and to take no action in
the name of the Forum which is contrary to its accepted programme.
On such a basis practical structures and suitable instruments can be introduced to give
real life to the organisation eg groups, federation of groups, federations of federations,
meetings, colloquia, correspondence committees and so on. This must be done freely so as
not to restrict the thought and the initiative of individual members but rather to give
greater scope to efforts which, in isolation, would be impossible or ineffective.
In such an arrangement a Civic Forum with colloquia, in spite of problems suffered as a
‘representative’ body, can be free from ‘authoritarianism’ because it
does not legislate and does not impose its deliberations on others. It serves to:
- maintain and increase personal contacts amongst the most active members
- summarize and encourage programmatic studies on the ways and means for action
- acquaint everybody with the situation in the regions and the kind of action most
urgently needed
- summarize the various currents of opinion at the time and prepare some kind of
statistics therefrom
Decisions of the Forum are not binding but are simply suggestions, advice and proposals
submitted to all concerned; and they do not become binding and executive except for those
who accept them and for as long as they accept them.
Such administrative staff as are nominated have no directive powers and do not take
initiatives except for those specifically solicited for and approved; and they have no
authority to impose their own views. They publish the resolutions of the Forum and the
opinions and proposals communicated to them by groups and individuals; and they act for
those who want to make use of them, to facilitate relations between groups, and
co-operation between those who are in agreement on various initiatives. Each member of the
Forum is free to correspond directly with any other member, or to make use of committees
nominated by specific groupings.
Within the Civic Forum network individual members can express any opinion and use any
tactic which does not contradict the accepted principles and does not interfere with the
activities of others.
The Forum as a whole, and sub groupings within it, should last only as long as the
reasons for union are superior to those for dissension: otherwise it should disband and
make way for other, more homogeneous groupings. The duration of the organisation must be
the result of the affinity of its members and of the adaptability of its constitution to
continually changing circumstances. When it can no longer serve a useful purpose it should
die.
It might be argued that the SCF does not exist to emancipate the people but rather to
provide a means whereby the people might emancipate themselves. The SCF wants a new way of
life (a new Scottish Democracy?) to emerge from the body of the people, a way of life
which corresponds to the state of their development and which advances as they advance.
What matters is that all interests and opinions should find their expression in a
conscious organisation and should influence communal life in proportion to their agreed
importance.
The author confesses to massive plagiarism in the production of this paper which is an
edited version of a reasonably classic political tract. Some vocabulary has been altered
and the original author is not named here as his political affiliations might dissuade
some people from even bothering to consider the ideas. If you do not recognize the thought
pattern email for details!
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