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A couple of weeks ago Senator Hillary Clinton addressed the National Rural Assembly via a video link-up. This gathering of 400-people, part of the Kellogg Foundation’s Rural People, Rural Policy initiative, was an effort to highlight the issues facing rural areas, and to broaden the discussion beyond agriculture policy, which has generally been the focus of rural policy efforts. To that end, during the Q&A session following her talk, Senator Clinton was asked by one participant if she, as President, would consider changing the name and mission of the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Rural Affairs. To her credit, she said yes, she believed that would be a terrific idea.

Now, I’m a little amazed at her reaction, and I hope it wasn’t just a throwaway line to feed the crowd. And I have to say I’m a little amazed that, from what I’ve seen, there’s been little or no reaction to this in the U.S. rural press (let me know if I’m missing it). Historically agriculture interests, and specifically commodity producers, have ruled the debate on rural policy issues. Looking at the current farm bill debate, I think we can say that hasn’t changed much, yet. Most people would tell you that it’s not going to change anytime soon. I wonder if the fact that Ms. Clinton’s remarks haven’t drawn much fire indicates that the status of ag in rural policy is beginning to change? The reality is that rural doesn’t mean ag in the way it used to in the United States. Rural issues cover a much broader swipe now than they used to, and our policy structures need to change to reflect that. I think a change as basic as renaming the Department of Agriculture would be a great place to start - the names we put on things define how we think about those things.

Following his July 4th celebration, author Scott Berkun posted an interesting question on his blog (for my American readers) - when was the last time you read the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution? I’ll confess to being a bit of a geek, so honestly it hasn’t been that long for me, just a few months. If it’s been a while, you should click the links below and go read them, if for no other reason than they’re beautiful pieces of writing. As Berkun says “Can you rally a nation in 1300 words, or define a government in 8000? Now that’s writing.” I’d dearly love to see a reporter ask President Bush or Vice-President Cheney when was the last time they read these documents. Clearly the meaning has been lost on them, if either of them has ever read the documents.

Declaration of Independence

U.S. Constitution

Anyone who’s spent any time watching CSPAN lately knows that public policy debates in the U.S. often center on dramatic stories. Opposing sides compete to see who can bring the most tearful witnesses to the table, who can show the most heart-wrenching photos, or who can present the most dramatic anger. That’s a natural tactic. Policy discussions, like most debates, are a sales job, and good salesmen are those who are able to make emotional connections. Unfortunately, in both sales and policy discussions, emotional connections do very little to guarantee a good outcome. Emotional reactions to anecdotal stories can often skew the discussion, causing participants to overlook hard data. Again, perfectly natural - most people have difficulty dealing with the piles and piles of numbers that weigh on a policy decision.

A Swede named Hans Rosling has come up with an excellent solution to this problem. He’s developed some software that can present multiple variables of data in time series through animated charts. He’s got a gift for presenting data using stories that can connect with his audiences, and his presentations are backed up by the unique data displays his software makes possible. I think he presents a great example of how people who understand data can use it to tell stories and actually sway debates of all kinds.

You can see a couple of videos of Hans in action here and here.

Google has recently purchased Hans’ Trendalyzer software, and it’s now available online in beta form here. With Google’s resources, look for some great things to come out of this project.

One of the things we had to adjust to when we moved to Ireland was taking our own cloth shopping bags to the grocery store. Why? Well, Ireland levies a €0.15 tax on plastic grocery bags, so every time we forgot to take our own (a lot, at first), we had to spend 30 or 45 cents to buy plastic bags. We’ve since gotten in the habit, and so no longer have to buy plastic bags, and thus no longer consume more scarce natural resources for both making the bags and then disposing of them. We take our cloth bags, purchased for €1 each. It’s a simple thing, but something we gave little thought to while living in the States.

The plastic bag levy is in the news these days because as of July 1 the tax increases to €0.22. Per capita usage of bags has been on the increase lately, and the levy increase is an attempt to bring consumption levels back down. But what impact did the initial levy have on consumer behavior? Prior to the levy, it’s estimated that per-capita usage of bags was 328. The level was reduced to 21 shortly after the levy, a drop in consumption of 90%! The level has risen back to 30 bags per capita last year, thus the levy increase.

This is such a simple little thing. Why don’t we all use cloth, reusable bags? We should - it would save the environment, cut down on store expenses. A small decision with literally no downside. Most of us don’t do it. And yet, a 15-cent charge was all it took to create a massive behavior change, nationwide. Brilliant.

Plastic Bag Levy Increase at An Irish Town Planner’s Blog

Wonder where your federal tax dollars go? A freelance graphic designer by the name of Jess Bachman has designed a poster that shows in simple form the breakdown of the federal budget. It’s a great example of graphic design being well-used to present a ton of information, and it’s a simple way to envision what the federal government is spending your money on. Check it out.

The Wisconsin Arts Board has come out with a new study showing the impact the arts have on local economies. According to the report, “in 2005, Wisconsin’s non-profit arts industry generated over 15,000 full-time jobs and $61,840,000 in state and local government revenue. Cumulatively, the arts contributed $418,055,786 in total economic activity.” The Wisconsin Arts Board hopes to use the report’s findings to improve public funding for the arts in Wisconsin.

We have certainly entered an era when communities will have to show a vibrant cultural environment to survive and thrive. Many small towns in Wisconsin, and elsewhere, struggle with this. I will say that’s one big difference I’ve noticed between Ireland and the United States - arts, whether it be music, storytelling or visual arts, play a prime role in society here in Ireland. I’ve told many friends, and written here, about the prevalence of traditional music sessions even in the town of 8,000 we live in. It’s not unusual to have live music events here in town every night of the week. I’m a firm believer that this kind of thing helps to build communities, because arts events are shared events, rather than the individual event of staying home and watching television.

In a Wisconsin State Journal article announcing the release of the report, our good friend Anne Katz of Arts Wisconsin is quoted doing what she does best, plugging the arts. Nice job Anne!

Wisconsin State Journal - State’s arts spending ranks near the bottom

Wisconsin Arts Board Study

The University of Wisconsin has created an online digital collection displaying all Blue Books since the the very first in 1853. The Blue Book is the almanac of Wisconsin state government. This is a great resource for history buffs, and includes many old maps and photographs. It’s also a fine demonstration of the power of the internet to make public resources more available to people.

State of Wisconsin Blue Book Collection

“At 10:14 EDT, CBS affiliate KOTV (Tulsa, OK) reported that a lightning strike had caused a fire at an Oklahoma refinery–sparking a flurry of excitement among energy traders and boosting U.S. crude prices 40 cents.”

Does it really make sense to base so much of an economy on such a volatile market? With the oil market in such unstable shape, we’re really just waiting for the disaster that shoves things over the edge.

• 469 candidates vying for 165 seats - wow!
• Candidates don’t have to live in the constituency (district) where they’re running for office. So, some candidates can’t even vote for themselves - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is one example.
• There has been no television advertising during this race - I’m assuming it’s against the law.
• The signs - man, it’s hard to describe how many signs are up around this country. It’s not a bit unusual to see a lamp post with 6 or 7 signs on it.
• Candidates here still drive trucks around with a P.A. system blasting out “Vote for me and I’ll make your life better”-type messages. Wish I could have gotten a video of one.
• There is a total news blackout about the election and all candidates for 24 hours prior to election day, as one newspaper put it “To give the voters a breather.”
• I’ve commented before about how dense and substantive the newspapers are here. That goes double for during the campaign. The amount of solid news and analysis that’s put out during this campaign has been just incredible. Real issues being discussed - what an idea!
• This country is so small that people still really get a chance to meet and talk with their elected officials - there’s a lot to be said for small.
• Gambling is legal in Ireland and every small town has at least one bookmaker. Bookies take bets on the elections, and current odds are reported in the paper and on the evening news. The Taoiseach even put down a 1,000 euro bet on himself to win his election (a safe bet).
• Polls are run here, but they seem to be given less weight than in America. Largely I think that’s due to the way the coalitions are formed after the elections, and the instant-runoff voting. The preference-ranking system in voting makes it harder to get accurate polls on individual seats, and there’s no good way to predict the eventual government because it depends on how many seats each party gets.
• Vote counting starts on Friday at 9:00AM. Apparently the counting can be quite a spectacle, and people will go to the counting centers to watch the counts. State television will carry the counting live tomorrow, and rumor has it people actually have parties at home to watch the counts come in.
• Exit polling was done during voting today, but no results will be announced until Friday morning, well after polls close.
• Polls are open from 7:30AM to 10:30PM. There was much griping that the Taoiseach didn’t call the election for a Saturday to make things easier for people.
• There has been much reportage of the “abysmal” turnout in the last election - 63%. Turnout is predicted to be much higher this year.
• When all is said and done, there will probably be 6 different political parties represented in the Dail, as well as several Independent members. I would guess there are another dozen or so parties in the election in various constituencies. Since there are more than two choices, you hear almost no “us against them” talk - a very refreshing change! This makes room for a LOT of ideas.

Today was election day in Ireland for national offices. People are headed to the polls to elect their local Teachta Dail (similar to U.S. Representatives). Because Ireland has a parliamentary system, this election will also decide, somewhat indirectly, who will run the country for the next few years. Citizens will elect the members of the Dail Eireann, the national parliament. Members elected to the Dail will then caucus to determine which parties will control the government. Because there are a number of parties represented in the Dail, parties will have to form a coalition with one or more other parties to achieve a majority. This majority will then elect, from the ranks of the Dail, the new Taoiseach (prime minister). If no group is able to form a majority coalition, it’s back to elections again. There has been quite a bit of talk about this possibility, as the ruling coalition majority has been very tight. Because of this, even parties with a very small number of Dail seats can play a big role in developing a ruling coalition.

Once elected, the winners will serve for a maximum of five years. They may end up serving less time than that, as the government (ruling majority) can call an election whenever they wish. If the governing coalition falls apart, a vote of no confidence can be taken in the Dail, also causing new elections to be called. While that’s not expected this time around, there was apparently a period in the 1980s when there were three national elections held in the space of 18 months.

Voting is not quite so simple a matter as selecting your favorite candidate and calling it done, as Ireland uses the instant-runoff voting method. It’s somewhat complicated, but thankfully the Irish Examiner had a good story about it in today’s paper, so I don’t have to explain it - read their story here.

So, I mentioned that the government can call the election whenever they want. In this case, the current government had served for nearly 5 years, the maximum allowed, so everyone knew an election was coming. Signs started appearing on the streets a couple of months ago. However, the campaign didn’t really kick into high gear until April 29 when Taoiseach Bertie Ahern called the election for May 24. From that point on it’s been non-stop campaigning, with a steady stream of politicians at our door asking for our votes (which of course we can’t give). The light poles of Ireland are absolutely covered with campaign signs, with apparently no (enforced) laws about where signs can be posted. You can see some pics below.

Click here for slideshow