The blur Group blog does not wish to be accused of partisanship during a General Election campaign, but we couldn’t help but notice a few links between the Conservative manifesto and our favoured Crowdsourcing model.

In last week’s blog, we asked whether the political parties would have the courage to a) adopt the model introduced by President Obama in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, b) adapt it to the British campaigning strategy situation and c) continue to engage in Crowdsourcing and social media while in government/opposition.

The Conservatives, however, appear to have stolen a march on us and displayed a degree of forethought in the tone of their manifesto. Not content to simply incorporate Crowdsourcing in their campaign, the Conservatives seem to allude towards a Crowdsourcing model that could be incorporated into their Government strategy. The manifesto, titled ‘Invitation to join the Government of Britain’, said:

“Some politicians say: ‘give us your vote and we will sort out all your problems’. We say: real change comes not from government alone. Real change comes when the people are inspired and mobilised, when millions of us are fired up to play a part in the nation’s future.

“Yes this is ambitious. Yes it is optimistic. But in the end all the Acts of Parliament, all the new measures, all the new policy initiatives, are just politicians’ words without you and your involvement.”

In today’s announcement, David Cameron claimed his polices would give the British public ‘the power to take control’ of a Conservative government, and thus influence the way services and departments are run.

Clearly we are a long way from reaching the point where we will see how Cameron intends to filter this power back down from the cabinet room in Downing Street, but it’s an encouraging sign. If we want the public to reconnect with politics, then the politicians must not be seen to be a closed book for a five year period of office.

The crowd that Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg are appealing to is obvious- the electorate. Interact with them, actively involve them in stages of the decision making process, and the electorate will eventually begin to care more about the stuff that goes on in the House of Commons. To repair relations between the electorate and politicians, constant dialogue between them will be vital throughout the next Parliamentary term.

“The alternative to big government is not no government, it’s good government. It’s the partner of the big society, not its boss,” said Cameron.

“It’s not about ‘you’, the government, it’s about ‘we’, the people.”

We do wonder whether the Conservatives have fully thought through their bold proposal though. Have they got the mechanisms in place (presumably online) to take this form of Crowdsourced governing into the next Parliament?

Cameron talks the talk all right, but will he come good on his fresh outlook for British society? That’s not for us to say. After all, we’re politically neutral…