Hardback
August 31, 2023
9789633866399
English
286
23 figures, 27 tables
9.00 Inches (US)
6.00 Inches (US)
0.94 Inches (US)
$79.00 USD, £64.00 GBP
v2.1 Reference

Democracy Fatigue

An East European Epidemy

Over the early 21st century, democracy worldwide has deteriorated significantly. At the same time, new populist forces have appeared that challenge democracies through legal reforms. The stark contrast between Eastern and Western Europe in this respect is the focus of this collection of essays.

The authors consider the 2008-2012 economic crisis to be at the root of the success of the populist parties and the rise of cultural backlash against liberal values. In turn, European governments' responses to the crisis—mainly austerity measures demanded by IMF and the EU— help explain desenchantment with the European Union. These policies made the wider public feel that they were being left out of politics, and populist parties promised to return power to them. 

The contributors argue that polarization of the electorate can set in motion a radicalization that strengthens authoritarians at the expense of democrats. They also demonstrate that Eastern and Western Europe differ in their attitudes to the decline in quality of democracy. The studies consider how satisfied people are with the political changes they witness, and argue that seemingly more authoritarian attitudes in the East explain why people feel more satisfied with a defective democracy that empowers the populist-authoritarian political actors that they support.

About the Author

Carlos Garcia-Rivero is an associate professor in Political Science at Valencia University, Spain, and research associate at the Centre for International and Comparative Politics, at Stellenbosch University, South Africa; previously, he was a lecturer at Burgos University and Saint Louis University. His research has focused on political culture, democratization, and electoral behavior at both elite and mass levels, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and in Islamic parties and democracy in North Africa and Middle East.

Endorsements

"This timely volume provides a comprehensive overview of populism in Europe. Anyone concerned about threats to democracy—and we all should be—will find the theoretical foundations and empirical cases discussed in this book insightful."


—Dr. Seraphine F. Maerz

9789633866399 : democracy-fatigue-garcia-rivero
Hardback
286 Pages
$79.00 USD

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