CHAPTER 20 -IS POLITICS BROKEN?
Politics as the art of government (politics as an arena)
Too much governance, too little government
Politics as compromise and consensus (politics as a process)
Too much conflict, too little compromise
Too much compromise, too little conflict
Politics as the the distribution of power and resources (politics as power)
Too much inequality, too little representation
Anti-politics: a rejection or alienation from conventional politicians and
political processes especially ‘mainstream political parties’ and establishes
representative mechanisms. One manifestation is the decline in political
engagement as citizens turn away from politics and retreat intro private
existence.
Concerns not only about civic disengagement but because of anger and
cynicism towards mainstream politics
Engagement by unconventional political participation: i. anti-
capitalistic= ‘new-anarchism’: resistance to compromise for the sake of
political expediency born out of suspicion towards hierarchies
ii. Emergence of right wing populist groups: support for the
common man in the face of corrupt elites strong populist
attitudes more unconventional participation/ differentiation in
turnouts between countries
Declining political engagement:
political engagement is an indication of the health of a political system.
Citizens are less interested in participating in democratic rule.
decrease in voter turnout
‘partisan dealignment’= fewer people identify with political parties in a
sense of having a psychological attachment or loyalty towards a party. Also
there is a decline in party activism: party members are less inclined to attend
regular meetings
decline in ‘social capital’: the networks of relationships among people who
live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function
effectively => ‘post civic generation’
, A shift from mainstream participation to interest in pressure group politics,
protest movements and the use of social media to facilitate political debate
and activism=> ‘reflexive citizenship’: people seek a more critical and
reciprocal relationship with structures of power.
Legitimacy as:
o Compliance with rules of game (bureaucratic)
o Acceptance of authority conferred by these rules
o Acceptance of outcomes produced by those with authority
Losers’ consent: acceptance of defeat- losers must see the outcome as
legitimate: characteristic of democracy’s legitimacy !!
o Legitimacy is linked with political trust
Diffuse support for the basic structures and values of the
system
Specific support for current support of the actors and their
actions
they are not always going compatible together
Political trust:
o Citizens’ assessment of core polity institutions
o Positive evaluation of the most relevant attributes that make institutions
trustworthy
o Procedural justice and fairness
political trust as an evaluations where politically sophisticated citizens are more
likely to evaluate// however, higher educated citizens do not always have more trust
than lower educated- difference is usually inverted
Structural factors:
Level of corruption
Neutral government
Proportional representation
Conjectural and cyclical factors
Economic performance
Specific period of endemic corruption of political scandal
Occurrence of elections (higher political trust)
CAUSES OF DISSILUSIONEMNT AND DISENGAGEMENT FOR
POLITICS:
Uninspiring political parties: shift from programmatic political parties to
‘catch all’ contributed to a process of ‘de-ideologization’. No emotional
attachment, displacement of ideological politics by managerial.
Politics as the art of government (politics as an arena)
Too much governance, too little government
Politics as compromise and consensus (politics as a process)
Too much conflict, too little compromise
Too much compromise, too little conflict
Politics as the the distribution of power and resources (politics as power)
Too much inequality, too little representation
Anti-politics: a rejection or alienation from conventional politicians and
political processes especially ‘mainstream political parties’ and establishes
representative mechanisms. One manifestation is the decline in political
engagement as citizens turn away from politics and retreat intro private
existence.
Concerns not only about civic disengagement but because of anger and
cynicism towards mainstream politics
Engagement by unconventional political participation: i. anti-
capitalistic= ‘new-anarchism’: resistance to compromise for the sake of
political expediency born out of suspicion towards hierarchies
ii. Emergence of right wing populist groups: support for the
common man in the face of corrupt elites strong populist
attitudes more unconventional participation/ differentiation in
turnouts between countries
Declining political engagement:
political engagement is an indication of the health of a political system.
Citizens are less interested in participating in democratic rule.
decrease in voter turnout
‘partisan dealignment’= fewer people identify with political parties in a
sense of having a psychological attachment or loyalty towards a party. Also
there is a decline in party activism: party members are less inclined to attend
regular meetings
decline in ‘social capital’: the networks of relationships among people who
live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function
effectively => ‘post civic generation’
, A shift from mainstream participation to interest in pressure group politics,
protest movements and the use of social media to facilitate political debate
and activism=> ‘reflexive citizenship’: people seek a more critical and
reciprocal relationship with structures of power.
Legitimacy as:
o Compliance with rules of game (bureaucratic)
o Acceptance of authority conferred by these rules
o Acceptance of outcomes produced by those with authority
Losers’ consent: acceptance of defeat- losers must see the outcome as
legitimate: characteristic of democracy’s legitimacy !!
o Legitimacy is linked with political trust
Diffuse support for the basic structures and values of the
system
Specific support for current support of the actors and their
actions
they are not always going compatible together
Political trust:
o Citizens’ assessment of core polity institutions
o Positive evaluation of the most relevant attributes that make institutions
trustworthy
o Procedural justice and fairness
political trust as an evaluations where politically sophisticated citizens are more
likely to evaluate// however, higher educated citizens do not always have more trust
than lower educated- difference is usually inverted
Structural factors:
Level of corruption
Neutral government
Proportional representation
Conjectural and cyclical factors
Economic performance
Specific period of endemic corruption of political scandal
Occurrence of elections (higher political trust)
CAUSES OF DISSILUSIONEMNT AND DISENGAGEMENT FOR
POLITICS:
Uninspiring political parties: shift from programmatic political parties to
‘catch all’ contributed to a process of ‘de-ideologization’. No emotional
attachment, displacement of ideological politics by managerial.
