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Evaluation
THE POLITICAL TASK – GOALS AND STRATEGY
What is the local politician’s task in society? And who are our constituents? Our
fundamental task is to meet the citizens’ needs for security, health, education, housing,
work, transportation and decent living conditions – to mention but a few. That does not
mean that the local councilor’s task is to meet the citizen’s every need, or that every need
is to be met with a municipal activity.
Following are some principles that should guide the way politicians do their work:
We meet people’s needs together with them, not for them. The municipal programs
and projects should be based on democratic decisions and people’s participation. It is
important that we welcome citizens, make them part of the municipality’s
development and show that we are open to their concerns and comments.
We meet people’s needs based on our Social Democratic values of freedom, justice
and solidarity and according to the vision we presented in our election programs and
meetings with the voters.
We meet people’s needs in an efficient way and we economically use
financial, human and environmental resources.
In our party caucus we must share a vision of what we want to achieve in the council and
for whom we want to do it. This is the basis for our short- and long-term political planning.
The party caucus in the local council is usually the place where more detailed planning
takes place. Basic instruments that you need for a planning process are:
Mapping
: Mapping means gathering information to create an accurate picture of the
realities in our area. This includes identifying problems people experience in terms of
services as well as social, economic and environmental issues. What are the main
issues that the council is dealing with currently? Who are our political opponents?
What issues are on their political agenda? Which interest groups and stakeholders are
active in our municipality?
Goals
: What are our political goals? What exactly do we want to achieve?
How do we describe our vision and goals – short and long term – to the citizens?
What is our political message?
Target groups: Who are our primary target groups? How can we contact and
communicate with them?
MAPPING
It is crucial that we know the citizens’ needs. What is most important to them? What
services or other activities are they satisfied with, or critical of? What changes do they
want? We need to gather this information in a structured, systematic way and keep it up to
date. This way we can assess whether there is change or development in the community.