Northern Ireland's politicians have no incentive to change, so why do it?

I remember going on an Assembly canvass with one well-known politician who shall remain nameless. A voter said she was backing him but couldn't decide who to give her subsequent preferences to and in what order.

Easy, he advised – start with the person you least like, give them nothing, then give your lowest preference to the next worst and "carry on till you give me number one and then stop".

It drew a laugh, but the habit of voting against what we fear or dislike is hard to shake in Northern Ireland. Basically, many of us reward politicians who we believe will stand up to "the other side" if it comes to a tussle.

Not everyone does that, but enough to ensure that politicians who don't give ground are rewarded and those seen as prone to compromise aren't.

It has come out in previous polls and surveys at party conferences, where we have asked people which of a range of politicians they trust, as oppose to like.

Sometimes we have defined trust as willingness to believe something the person said without strong evidence for or against.

Trust levels are always very low for politicians from the other tradition. Many of us vote for strong tribal champions to hold the opposing strong tribal champions in check.

Constituency service is also important, but overall doesn't seem to be the main thing.

Polls show regularly that many loyalists believe nationalist politicians are better at getting things done. It's probably a false "grass is greener" view, but the point is that it doesn't result in any cross-community voting. The Belfast Telegraph offers its readers online policy questionnaires at most elections.

They show that many people regularly vote for parties whose policies they don't fully endorse on the social and economic issues which dominate politics in most societies. It doesn't matter here.

We shouldn't be surprised when there is deadlock at Stormont and vital decisions aren't taken.

Whatever their inclination, and many see the problem, politicians know they will very likely suffer if they can't score points off "themuns", and instead do a trade-off.

Successful negotiation is often about making a list of the five things that are most important to you and then getting it down to three.

That doesn't generally pay here. In fact it can be fatal. That could be one reason why Peter Robinson dropped the Maze Peace and Reconciliation Centre like a hot potato after championing it for years.

That is why we get a situation where dissatisfaction is almost ludicrously high with Stormont, yet voting intentions don't change much.

There is also the fact that powerful but minority interest groups are allowed to wield disproportionate influence because they vote in a disciplined way, as well as putting the hard work and hard cash into the political parties to win elections.

That is why politicians at times seem out of line with public opinion on issues, like the importance of parading or abortion and same sex marriage.

It is a waste of breath to blame the politicians and then reward them anyway.

They need to be told that changing is the best way to win votes.

Belfast Telegraph