Why politics matters: making democracy work
Why politics matters: making democracy work
Achieving mass democracy was the great triumph of the twentieth century. Learning to live with it will be the greatest achievement of the twenty-first century.
A rising tide of discontent is posing a major crisis for systems of mass democracy: the evidence is clear to see in reduced turnout and party membership and in opinion surveys. The failures of politicians have played their part but, Gerry Stoker argues, equally important are the dysfunctional political stances and styles adopted by many citizens. Democratic politics, he argues, is doomed to disappoint because it involves collective decision-making, demands complicated communication and generally produces a messy compromise. One size fits no-one.
So what is the solution? Stoker suggests that democracy - and the political class - must create a new politics, making it as easy as possible for as many people as possible to express and debate their political preferences.
9781403997395
Stoker, Gerry
209ba619-6a65-4bc1-9235-cba0d826bfd9
July 2006
Stoker, Gerry
209ba619-6a65-4bc1-9235-cba0d826bfd9
Stoker, Gerry
(2006)
Why politics matters: making democracy work
,
Basingstoke, GB.
Palgrave Macmillan, 248pp.
Abstract
Achieving mass democracy was the great triumph of the twentieth century. Learning to live with it will be the greatest achievement of the twenty-first century.
A rising tide of discontent is posing a major crisis for systems of mass democracy: the evidence is clear to see in reduced turnout and party membership and in opinion surveys. The failures of politicians have played their part but, Gerry Stoker argues, equally important are the dysfunctional political stances and styles adopted by many citizens. Democratic politics, he argues, is doomed to disappoint because it involves collective decision-making, demands complicated communication and generally produces a messy compromise. One size fits no-one.
So what is the solution? Stoker suggests that democracy - and the political class - must create a new politics, making it as easy as possible for as many people as possible to express and debate their political preferences.
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Published date: July 2006
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Local EPrints ID: 47278
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/47278
ISBN: 9781403997395
PURE UUID: fdf338d3-2a32-49af-8cd8-16e1d55fa760
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Date deposited: 31 Jul 2007
Last modified: 06 Aug 2022 01:40
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