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Dedication
To the memory of Alessandro Pizzorno (01/01/1924–04/04/2019), who, in 1973, enabled me to embark on a career of research on comparative European industrial relations; who, in 1995, welcomed me to Florence and the European University Institute; who, in 2002, interested Giuseppe Laterza in my Fabian Society pamphlet, Coping with Post-Democracy, which led to my writing, in 2003, Post-Democracy.
Post-Democracy After the Crises
Colin Crouch
polity
Copyright page
Copyright © Colin Crouch 2020
The right of Colin Crouch to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2020 by Polity Press
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All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4156-0
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4157-7 (pb)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Crouch, Colin, 1944- author.
Title: Post-democracy after the crises / Colin Crouch.
Description: Cambridge, UK ; Medford, MA : Polity, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “Crouch’s provocative argument in Post-Democracy has in many ways been vindicated by recent events, but these have also highlighted some weaknesses of the original thesis and shown that the situation today is even worse”-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019033304 (print) | LCCN 2019033305 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509541560 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509541577 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509541584 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Democracy--Philosophy. | World politics--21st century.
Classification: LCC JC423 .C7673 2020 (print) | LCC JC423 (ebook) | DDC 321.8--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019033304
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019033305
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Acknowledgements
My wife, Joan, has, as always, been an unfailing partner in developing arguments and ideas, and in reading successive drafts.
From the initial writing of Post-Democracy in 2003 to this current volume, I have enjoyed invaluable encouragement and support from Giuseppe Laterza.
I have benefited greatly from discussions and seminars with Donatella Della Porta, Mario Pianta and their colleagues and students at the Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence, where I was a visiting professor during 2018.
Preface
In my book Post-Democracy, first published in 2003, I argued that in much of the western world we were drifting towards a condition where democracy was becoming a shadow of itself. Its institutions and habits remained: contested elections took place; governments could be brought down and peacefully replaced; political debate seemed fierce. But its vivacity and vigour had declined: parties and governments did not so much respond to desires articulated autonomously by groups of citizens, but manipulated issues and public opinion. Meanwhile, the real energy of the political system had passed into the hands of small elites of politicians and the corporate rich, who increasingly ensured that politics responded to the wishes of the latter. No one was to ‘blame’ for this in the normal sense, even those who gained from it. The two principal causes were beyond easy human manipulation. First, globalization had removed major economic decisions to levels that could not be reached from where democracy was concentrated: the nation-state. This was rendering much political economic debate futile. Second, the divisions of class and religion that had once enabled ordinary citizens to acquire a political identity were losing their meaning, making it increasingly difficult for us all to answer the question: ‘Who am I, politically?’ And unless we can answer that question, it is
