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The End of Representative Politics
Representative politics is in crisis. Trust in politicians is at an all-time low. Fewer people are voting or joining political parties, and our interest in parliamentary politics is declining fast. Even oppositional and radical parties that should be benefitting from public disenchantment with politics are suffering.
But different forms of political activity are emerging to replace representative politics: instant politics, direct action, insurgent politics. We are leaving behind traditional representation, and moving towards a politics without representatives. In this provocative new book, Simon Tormey explores the changes that are underway, drawing on a rich range of examples from the Arab Spring to the Indignados uprising in Spain, street protests in Brazil and Turkey to the emergence of new initiatives such as Anonymous and Occupy.
Tormey argues that the easy assumptions that informed our thinking about the nature and role of parties, and 'party based democracy' have to be rethought. We are entering a period of fast politics, evanescent politics, a politics of the street, of the squares, of micro-parties, pop-up parties, and demonstrations. This may well be the end of representative politics as we know it, but an exciting new era of political engagement is just beginning.
But different forms of political activity are emerging to replace representative politics: instant politics, direct action, insurgent politics. We are leaving behind traditional representation, and moving towards a politics without representatives. In this provocative new book, Simon Tormey explores the changes that are underway, drawing on a rich range of examples from the Arab Spring to the Indignados uprising in Spain, street protests in Brazil and Turkey to the emergence of new initiatives such as Anonymous and Occupy.
Tormey argues that the easy assumptions that informed our thinking about the nature and role of parties, and 'party based democracy' have to be rethought. We are entering a period of fast politics, evanescent politics, a politics of the street, of the squares, of micro-parties, pop-up parties, and demonstrations. This may well be the end of representative politics as we know it, but an exciting new era of political engagement is just beginning.
200 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2015
46 people want to read
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September 6, 2018
This book was published in 2015, and boy, did it age badly! I am only half-joking now. The diagnosis part of the analysis on what troubles representative democracy is mostly well done (a good overview of the existing literature and complaints), but the overall tone exhibits a pre-2016 thinking in its guarded optimism that almost borders on wishful thinking, at times - representation as we knew it may be over but things just might work out well for a new way of doing politics in a democracy! Yay!
Uh.
...because, as it turns out, evanescent, 'resonant', un-institutionalized and anti-elite politics that eschews representation is not really sustainable; it makes anti-democratic forces just as possible and easy to organize - and more often than not, all the developments painstakingly described in the book are a recipe for political impotence, further public frustration, and, consequently, a growing populist & authoritarian impulse of the electorate.
Fun times!
Uh.
...because, as it turns out, evanescent, 'resonant', un-institutionalized and anti-elite politics that eschews representation is not really sustainable; it makes anti-democratic forces just as possible and easy to organize - and more often than not, all the developments painstakingly described in the book are a recipe for political impotence, further public frustration, and, consequently, a growing populist & authoritarian impulse of the electorate.
Fun times!
Displaying 1 of 1 review