Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/534048
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 JUNE 2015 10 News TEODOR RELJIC OVER and above the Labour Par- ty's subsequent track record in gov- ernment, a new book suggests that Joseph Muscat's 'movement' won the hearts of the electorate through a careful and considered strategy that valued social inclusion above all. In a book that is in fact entitled 'Winning People's Hearts', psy- chologist Paul A. Bartolo runs the gamut of the 2013 election run-up narrative – familiar to us journal- ists, of course, but whose dramatic twists and more prosaic details may be fading in the public memory – giving a potted history of the events that led to the Labour Party's elec- toral victory by a landslide 53% ma- jority vote. More importantly however, Bar- tolo's findings suggest that this po- litical triumph cannot be separated from the persistent raison d'être of the Labour Party's political cam- paign that year. A focus on social inclusion of vari- ous groups – planned in such a way so as not to appear contrived, and taking full advantage of the Nation- alist Party's discomfort with dis- sent at the time – was, according to Bartolo, the deciding factor in securing Labour's landslide victory, as epitomized by the slogan 'Malta Taghna Lkoll' (Malta For All) but also in real terms on the ground, as exemplified by the PL's outreach to previously 'neglected' social groups such as the LGBTIQ community. By contrast, the Nationalist Party digging its heels in the name of 'values' on matters such as divorce fomented an exclusionist atmos- phere, practically making good on the criticism that it's being run by elitist 'cliques'. Meanwhile, Bartolo writes that while Alternattiva Demokratika's campaign appeared to be pushing exactly the kind of social-democrat- ic principles that would promote equality for all – with a special em- phasis on minority groups – their outreach on the ground fell short of these intentions, with the green party failing to meet the electorate half way. While these observations are hardly groundbreaking in and of themselves, Bartolo's research sheds an interesting light on the psychological dimension of these 'electoral truisms', bolstering his 'inclusivity' theory with relevant scholarship on the matter, and drawing a pertinent comparison between Joseph Muscat's campaign and that of US President Barack Obama in the run-up to his own – and also ultimately (twice) victori- ous – electoral history. Taking it personally Bartolo lays down his theoretical groundwork by emphasising just how deep-rooted feelings of social inclusion and exclusion can be, and that the same emotions we feel in this regard in our personal lives could be transposed to how we re- late to the political sphere. To illustrate this, he refers to the computerized research experiment 'Cyberball', which was originally tested in a real-life context. A participant was invited to an experiment but the real experiment took place while he or she was wait- ing to be called. Two other partici- pants, who were in fact collabora- tors of the experimenter, joined the first participant in the waiting room. One of them picked up a ball from a shelf and started toss- ing it to the others. Eventually the tossing was either inclusive of the participant or excluded him or her. In the computerized version of the game, the participant is made to be- lieve that the two other players are controlled by other human partici- pants, when in fact, they would be pre-programmed to either include the participant or simply pass the ball between them – excluding the participant altogether. According to the ensuing re- search, "even a mere two to three minutes of ostracism in the Cyber- ball game produce strong negative feelings such as hurt, sadness, anger and general upset or distress". Con- solidating additional research, Bar- tolo explains how "even the brief experience of an averted eye gaze from a computerized confederate, rather than direct eye gaze, led par- ticipants to feel excluded and to ex- perience the effects associated with ostracism: a lowered satisfaction of basic human needs, a lowered ex- perience of how they compared to others, more negative moods, lower self-esteem, and enhanced tempta- tions to act aggressively". Bartolo goes on to suggest that these findings could easily be ap- plied to the local political scene, which due to Malta's size allows for close interaction between poli- ticians and the electorate, and in which "one can expect myriad op- portunities for people to enact and experience processes of inclusion and exclusion that can influence their voting". Given that one's 'social identity' – as determined by various factors; some deliberately cultivated, others less so – becomes particularly per- tinent when voting in general elec- tions in Malta's highly polarized political system, Bartolo homes in on the parameters of an individual's identity as it relates to this mind- set. A case study in empathy: Anglu Farrugia and Franco Debono The idea of recognition is key, since voters would expect that a politician would acknowledge their needs in a very genuine and consist- ent way. But this isn't just limited to the relationship between politicians and voters. The drama surround- ing rebel PN backbencher Franco Debono and the Nationalist Party in general (and then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in particular), Bar- tolo suggests, is also pertinent. In December 2012, Debono brought down the government by voting against the budget. De- claring that with this act, Gonzi had relegated Debono to a "closed chapter", Gonzi salted the wound by adding that, "Franco Debono is irrelevant". Bartolo describes this as "the most hurting and ostracizing com- ment possible to one aspiring to share power", which apart from only serving to stoke Debono's fire, I know how you feel: Labour A new study suggests that a skill at harnessing social inclusion was the determining factor in Labour's landslide 2013 election victory Joseph Muscat gives his autograph to a young admirer during the election campaign Joseph Muscat addresses a 'Malta taghna lkoll' rally: many see the Labour government not living up to its promises