Why we hate politics by Colin Hay PDF

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BOOK Why we hate politics by Colin Hay, 2007 CHAPTER ONE - Reasons of political disenchantment - The prince by Machiavelli - Conceptions of politics before and after the 16th century - Decrease of electorate turnout CHAPTER TWO - Countries where it is mandatory to vote - Politization/Depolitization CHAPTER THREE - Neoliberalism - Impossibility theorem by Kenneth Arrow - The political overload theory/The bureaucratic overload theory - Political business cycle theory CHAPTER FOUR - Globalization - Nation state CHAPTER FIVE: WHO IS TO BLAME?

Chapter one: Reasons of disenchantment:    

Neoliberalism Globalization Inefficiency of political process Growing influence of those for whom politics is a necessary evil Inherent interventionism

  This leads to a diminished capacity of political actors

The Prince by Machiavelli, 1532 The Prince described by Machiavelli also gives the idea that political actors (like the prince here) are narrowly self-interested and that they are unable to achieve concrete projects. But what we should keep in mind is that Machiavelli never says that all politicians are acting the way the prince is. Then we can’t say that the political actor that is the prince described by Machiavelli represents the political actors in general of his time. Aristotle conception of politics until the late 16th century: noble art of preserving the republic largely through the subordination of sectional interests to the common interest of the community as a whole = resolution of collective problems and delivery of public goods 2nd conception given here: art of managing the republic to satisfy the collective needs of the many against the parochial desires of the individuals. = art of stabilizing, insulating and crystallizing the political power and authority of a person or a group = RAISON D’ETAT DECREASE OF ELECTORAL TURNOUT: Over the post war period (1960’s), the electorate turnout has been decreasing in almost every developed country a part Nordic countries and Scandinavian countries. The decrease has been even more noticeable since the 1990’s and was highest in co-ordinated economies whereas it was the lowest in liberal market economies. Moreover, since the 1960’s party membership has dropped so much that campaigning is becoming harder and harder.

BOOK There are two main factors of that electoral turnout decrease: - Role of demographic factor - Socio-economic and educational factor: 1. Diminished sense of civic/public duty on the part of citizens “political apathy” Putnam like activists (nonvoters are often activists (unconventional form of political participation) so we can’t consider that this category of people is just ignoring the political life of its country). 2. More educated population “critical citizens” Pippa Norris especially young, educated and affluent people. This category of people are challenging politicians: they require a certain quality and freedom. 3. The demographic changes and the lowering of the voting age Mark N. Franklin If (Uchosen-Uother)P > Cvoting then it is interesting for the citizen to vote for this or this party. Cvoting representing the cost he incurs in voting U standing for the anticipated utility he will receive if its party wins P for probability of her vote proving decisive Moreover, Franklin describes the inertia phenomenon which is the influence of early experiences of vote on the decision to politically participate or not. But Franklin analyses only a symptom and not a factor of the political disaffection and he is describing a fatal situation where the supply side cannot do anything apart lowering the voting age once again so that young generation can understand.

Another phenomenon that we can observe is the “marketization of the electoral competition”: voters are demanding political goods that the supply side is not always offering so voters are choosing not to vote if the goods they are requiring are not offered by politicians. Older generation are more about to vote because: -

they have acquired a political experience voting was a habit established

People are not blaming democracy itself, they describe it as the best form of government they know (doesn’t mean it is the best one). Several surveys show that political parties are the less trusted institutions and politicians the less trusted professionals Chapter two: Countries in the world in which voting is mandatory: -

Australia Belgium Bolivia Brazil (from 18 to 70 yo) France (but no sanction) Greece (no direct sanction) Italy until 1993 Luxembourg Netherlands Romania Switzerland in one canton

Andrew Heywood “politics” does not fit all categories as we usually think. If so the word would become meaningless. Secularization: (secular describes something that has no connection with religion) Politization: -

When the realm of necessity become under human influence and deliberation

BOOK -

When private sphere become subject to public processes of deliberation From the public to the governmental

Depolitization: -

When deliberation was in the hand of political actors and is now in the hand of the public  loss of capacity for politicians Privatization from the public sphere From private deliberation to the realm of necessity and fate (gender inequalities)

REALM OF NECESSITY AND FATE  PRIVATE SPHERE  PUBLIC SPHERE  GOVERNMENTAL SPHERE Depolitization: process of placing at one remove the political character of decision making Peter Burnham

Chapter three: Alan S. Blinder: politician’s traditional missions are more and more accomplished by some groups/experts (that are not politicians) Neoliberalism: Thatcher and Reagan -

Rise in the late 1970’s and the 1980’s in the Anglophone democracies General diffusion in the 1990’s Process of institutionalization and depolitization Important role of “public choice theory” because it legitimates the neoliberalism by demonizing politics and politicians Pessimistic about the effectiveness and the honesty of states

Kenneth Arrow “impossibility theorem”: the preferences of a society of rational actors cannot be aggregated fairly and in manner which does not violate the principles of democracy to arrive at a rationale collective choice preferred by the majority. Pbs of this theorem: - Preferences of individuals are not fixed, given and immutable - Democracy is not only a procedure for the aggregation of preferences - Democracy is not only a system for selecting preferences to be aggregated

The “political overload theory” claims that politicians are narrowly self-interested and the “bureaucratic overload theory” claims that the bureaucratic word is narrowly self-interested: -

Increase salary Increase benefits Desire for promotion Maximize the size of the bureau budget Maintain their position as monopoly providers of a given public service Ding little work Expend areas of competences Maximize workplace security Be well catered for in retirement

Those two theories are demonizing politics and politicians. Pbs: -

Based on assumptions that are not demonstrated Electors are not as narrowly self-interested as described in the thesis Incompatible with evidence Does not explain the emergence of a condition of “stagflation” (but rising inflation and escalating levels of public debt in the 1970’s)

BOOK “Political business cycle theory” by William D. Nordhaus: the capacity of political actors to manage the economy will lead them artificially to see to align the natural cycle of the economy with the electoral cycle to maximize their chance of re-election. Chapter four: During the early post-war period capital was national and immobile: we can talk about national economies. Globalization: process that embodies a transformation in the spatial organization of social relations and transactions generating transcontinental or inter-regional flows and network of activity, interaction and power David Held But we can’t talk about globalization if it is only a triadization. Globalization has to be global meaning not regional. Nation State: form of political organization in which a group of people who share the same history, traditions or language live in a particular area under one government (Merriam Webster Definition) Investment’s requirements: - Proximity and access to the market - Skills of the workforce - Taxes around wages, importations and exportations Chapter five: Who is to blame? -

Electorate Politicians because they are too often discharging their activities to public corpuses and so they appears inefficient. Academic political commentators...