Mainstream politics is under fire as never before with people questioning its claim to be an effective tool for changing our world. The traditional political parties, it is claimed, are all much of a muchness, as more people turn to single issue lobbying groups or abandon politics altogether. Douglas Alexander, who was delivering Christian Aid leaflets thirty years before becoming Secretary of State for International Development, makes the - at times unfashionable - case that democratic politics continues to be the most effective way in which we can transform the world we share.