The transformational merit of personal advocacy and advice.

The public sphere only represents narrow interests and obsessions because most of us undervalue investment in it. Fix that problem and you will transform society.

Economists have shown that, for most voters, it’s quite irrational to even bother advocating politically for our own interests most of the time. There is even have a term for it – Rational Ignorance. 

While it may be rational for most people to abstain from active politicking for ourselves and our families, the theory shows that there is a subset of the population who are positively compelled to engage in politics, because it is a very satisfying and rewarding venture for them - even in the short term. 

Because the rest of us don’t invest time and money in politics, those privileged, highly-motivated, time-rich active and narrow minorities - rentiers - can dominate our democratic polity with their demands and vetoes. 

Mancur Olson’s 1982 classic, ‘The Rise and Decline of Nations’ wisely foresees a future that we can all recognise today. Olson knew that modern states would get weaker in the face of such active and purposeful minorities. That it would result in rigidities that will slowly strangle growth and bring the economy to a halt.

He knew that it was not only anti-democratic – it was also economically crippling.

None of our official safeguards are of much help either. The media-ish space where we are supposed to come together to solve our own problems and hold power to account – what Jürgen Habermas described as the public sphere - is in private ownership, flooded with other people’s money. We’ve always known this, of course, but public-interest journalism is more defunded than ever before, with Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos painting this problem all over our consciousness in big stripes of primary colours.

Even the ballot paper is little help to us. Elections offer a menu that is too focussed on the concerns of lobbyists, political hobbyists, cranks, and grifters via the political parties that they dominate. The global populist clustershambles of 2024 was always going to be our destination.

Solve the problem of exclusion-through-rational-ignorance and we can transform our economy while also reawakening our sense of democratic optimism. But … but, but, problem we will encounter is that all of the obvious fixes – state funding of political parties, censorship, or even regulation of the media, etc – are rightly unpalatable in a liberal democracy.

So, how can we encourage everyone to become an investor in the public sphere?

Economists use the term ‘Merit Goods’ to help even the most convinced free-marketeer to support sensible government interventions. For example, if we left education to the hidden hands of the market, most of us would have had much poorer schooling, and – crucially – the market would work less effectively.

We also talk about roads, healthcare, social housing or public transport – things that people are unlikely to pay for personally, but that society needs to function – as Merit Goods. We solve this problem of rational private pennypinching by legitimising collective provision of the things a good society needs to function.

So here is our solution: We can solve the problem of Rational Ignorance simply by correcting the very human tendency to undervalue personal advice, representation and advocacy.

Try to imagine, for a moment, if we could all somehow find a way of motivating ourselves to pay for this kind of help, because we've seen that when we don't pay for it, we become part of the service that is sold to those who do. Leaving the problem of political participation aside, we would all suddenly budget more effectively and spend more wisely if we had good impartial advice.

Wiser personal expenditure would mean our personal budgeting would be much more rewarding. Capitalism would be better focussed on human needs and desires. We’d be better savers and investors if we had a budget for financial advice and a right to take paid time off work to be advised well. Our personal savings would be in a better place (to the relief of the welfare state). With this quality of advice and advocacy, the economy would suddenly develop better feedback loops.

This alone would justify doing this.

Also, when we turn to the question of self-interested political advocacy, most of us don’t have the time, energy, or inclination to get into the weeds of policy detail. But imagine we were all suddenly willing to contribute towards having lobbyists paid to understand and represent our interests, competing with those who only represent narrow sectional interests (almost the sole purpose of the entire lobbying industry).

People who would bargain with the government on our behalf, and ensure that we all feel heard for the first time in a long while.

If we did, the public sphere would start to fill up with money intended to serve individual interests more than the sectional interests which currently dominate. The public sphere would suddenly be full of well-capitalised research, commentary and campaigning on behalf of the interests of the politically inactive. Journalists would suddenly find it easier to get a new job. And – best of all – our politics and government would stop being gummed up by so many over-powerful veto groups. Without rentier interests dominating, the productivity-pay gap may even start to close again.

Simply by treating personal advice and advocacy as a Merit Good, so many other problems would unravel. It would take us a small step towards solving one of humanity’s biggest problems – the collapse of the democratic and political structures that we rely on for our future peace and security.

If we do this, our only remaining challenge is how we find imaginative ways to pay for it without annoying fickle taxpayers (most of whom would benefit hugely if we do). I think there are a few politically popular candidates (i.e., not ‘working people’) for the funding of this idea I will post some ideas on how we can find this money in due course.