Return of the bureaucrat

As you might have guessed from the sidebar, I have been re-elected as Regional Secretary - just... Given that all but three of the twenty-three potential electors cast their vote, a margin of 11 to 9 is slightly discomforting. However, the agony of waiting is over, and my work resumes apace.

The job of Regional Secretary is, if the Regional Constitution is to be believed, a very simple one.

8. The Secretary of the Regional Executive shall be responsible for arranging the meetings of the Regional Executive and keeping minutes and for the Region's communications with Local Parties and other bodies within the Party.

However, the latter part of the job description can be as much or as little as the incumbent wishes it to be, and in the past, has tended towards the minimalist end, through no fault of my predecessors, lest it be taken as criticism.

Technology allows a Regional Secretary to reach his/her 'audience' more easily, more quickly and perhaps most importantly of all, more cheaply than ever before. This should be a good thing, as it affords the Regional Party access to the ear of its constituent Local Parties, especially when something important is happening. On the other hand, it presents the problem of "How much information is enough?". Indeed, how much information is too much?

Politicians are always uncomfortable when control over information is ceded to a wider circle, and in an age when information can be used and abused more readily than ever before, and some of our opponents are less encumbered by moral scruples about doing so, any attempt to broaden the knowledge base has to be tempered with a degree of caution and, done with the support of those whose reservations are strongly, and genuinely, held.

To some of you, this may very well sound like a 'rowing back' from my previous statements and perhaps it is. However, sometimes you have to prove the validity of a case by small, successful pilot projects rather than by 'big bang' reform lest the long-term goal be derailed by opponents of progress...