An Orwellian redefinition of democracy

The thing that struck me most at yesterday’s Battle for Politics conference in London was how was that many experts have taken on the view that lessons from happiness research, psychology and neuroscience can be applied directly to politics. Speakers such as Professor Gerry Stoker and Matt Grist of the RSA’s Social Brain Project favoured the elite use of such disciplines to manipulate popular behaviour. They seem to have no notion of the classical conception of democracy as rule by the people.

Other useful references on this topic include:

• Matt Grist’s RSA report on Changing the Subject.
• The report by Graham Allen MP and Iain Duncan Smith, a senior Conservative politician, on Early Intervention: Good Parents, Great Kids, Better Citizens. The report was endorsed by the leaders of all three of the main political parties.
• The transcript of Kenan Malik’s BBC Radio 4 Analysis programme on neuroscience.
• My recent spiked review of two books on applying happiness research.

For an update on several useful new articles on the happiness debate see Alex Eichler’s blog post on the AtlanticWire.