Demands on Democracy
José María Maravall
Abstract
Why are representative democracies extensively criticized by some, while simultaneously inspiring hopes in many parts of the world? What do demands for ‘more’ democracy mean? Are they related to perceptions that democratic controls over politicians are very weak? Is this related to a view of parties as opaque organizations, a lack of information of citizens about politics, a perception of politicians as remote from citizens and often usurping the voice of the people? Are there sufficient differences between parties to offer a genuine choice for citizens that can justify voting? Why would parti ... More
Why are representative democracies extensively criticized by some, while simultaneously inspiring hopes in many parts of the world? What do demands for ‘more’ democracy mean? Are they related to perceptions that democratic controls over politicians are very weak? Is this related to a view of parties as opaque organizations, a lack of information of citizens about politics, a perception of politicians as remote from citizens and often usurping the voice of the people? Are there sufficient differences between parties to offer a genuine choice for citizens that can justify voting? Why would parties want to converge or diverge? What have been the political consequences of moderation and polarization? How do the competing parties differ in terms of their stance on questions of equality? How have differences evolved over time and why? Are views that inequalities have grown very much justified? What have been the political consequences of inequality and redistribution? Does the European Union constrain or facilitate democracy? Has it changed the scope of policy alternatives? Has it influenced the accountability of politicians? These questions are examined using original empirical evidence for twenty-one OECD parliamentary democracies from 1945 to 2010, and 1,259 country/year observations of politics, representation, parties, inequality, economic policies, and the political and economic conditions of European integration.
Keywords:
representative democracy,
delegation of power,
political accountability,
electoral competition,
differences between parties,
political consequences of moderation and polarization,
equality of condition,
distribution of incomes,
political consequences of economic redistribution,
European Union
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2016 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780198778523 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2016 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198778523.001.0001 |
