A mean, green machine

The recent Danish election demonstrated a low trust in politics and green politics in particular. Maybe it is time to revive contract politics and its cousin, the policy execution office

Contract politics

From the mid-nineties, it became popular among European politicians to turn the somewhat vague social contract between politicians and the electorate into a more explicit contract with the people stating detailed promises that were pursued rigorously and communicated even more rigorously. This is referred to as contract politics.

The early inspiration came from the American Republicans’ Contract with America that stated clearly how they would use a majority in the 1994 congressional elections. Maybe better known is Tony Blair’s so-called Third Way campaigns that successfully positioned New Labour firmly in a centrist political position.

In a Danish context, the most famous example of contract politics is the government led by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who in a similar way created a firm platform to govern from based on stated commitments, most famously the obligation to not increase taxation.

The approach is still alive and quite visible, for example in the style of the government of Emanuel Macron in France. A nice example to illustrate the upsides and downsides of contract politics:

• It enables a reform agenda that is not driven by classic ideology
• It creates a stronger bond between the middle majority and the government
• But it also alienates the more marginal views
• And it comes with a one-mindedness that borders on arrogance or even ignorance

Policy execution offices

An often overlooked part of contract politics is the policy execution office. Every larger company has experience with this type of strategy execution set-up, sometimes labelled a transformation office, a programme management office or something even fancier. Whatever it is called, the purpose is to make something happen based on strategic choices and drive the change without too much concern for established practices or responsibilities.

The New Labour governments (and to some extent, the Danish copycats) created similar beasts to drive their agendas out of the Treasury or Ministry of Finance and make sure the progress was measured and hammered through. This is not a way to make friends, but it may be a way to create change. Especially if individual sentiments or the creation of deep and broad commitment is not so high on the priority list.

This probably also explains why contract politics has a bit of a bad reputation in a public sector context. It can be brutal and insensitive, and it can easily lead to cynicism or even active resistance among the people who are directly or indirectly affected by the change.

On the other hand, it did succeed in delivering the promised change and creating relatively stable majorities behind the reform agendas.

A mean, green machine

Maybe it is time to bring this monster back to life. For all its inflexibility, it may be exactly what is needed for the elected majority to deliver on the somewhat vague promises of “less talk, more action” (in many variations), but all in relation to the green transition.

We already know the levers from the extensive work in the climate partnerships and a million analyses, but we need the ruthless machine to pull the levers and take priority over other concerns.

So what can this machine do?

• Run a programme of law changes and implementation that will raise demands on all segments of society based on the already agreed roadmap
• Lead the policies to be implemented in changed taxation
• Put massive pressure on utility companies, planning authorities and others with a stake in the speed of the transition
• Enforce changes in procurement rules and – more importantly – practices to leverage the buying power of the public sector
• Lead classical national industry politics in selected areas to make sure we get the critical equipment we need, e.g. transformer stations, and make partnerships with the Danish industry to grow the supply side to fulfil national and international demand
• And most importantly: Be accountable for this one goal and equipped with a massive hammer from Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen and permanent secretary Barbara Bertelsen (yes, they will be back)

Will the machine make mistakes? Most certainly – and it will create a lot of resistance. But it could also be exactly what we need to make the change happen.