Rethinking democracy / edited by Andrew Gamble, Tony Wright.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Gamble, Andrew, editor.

Wright, Tony, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (50 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chichester, West Sussex : Wiley, in association with The political quarterly, 2019.

Summary:

"There's never been a more pressing time to question every aspect of our inadequate democracy"- Polly Toynbee "This important book shows the many challenges democracy faces in a world of populism and radical digital change" - Margaret Hodge 2018 saw celebrations of the centenary of the Representation of the People Act which marked a decisive step towards full universal suffrage - this collection of essays explores the problems of democracy and suggests ways it might now be extended and deepened. * Investigates if democracyis an unfinished revolution and if democratic politics is currently in retreat * Demonstrates how democratic politics is once again under attack - this time from populist nationalists, authoritarian rulers and new forms of political communication * Argues that if we lose the art of active citizenship, we will lose the freedoms and the rights which democracy has bestowed

Contents:

Intro

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors

1. Introduction

2. Democracy and Its Discontents

Notes

3. Feminist Reflections on Representative Democracy

Introduction

Defining democracy

The biases of democratic citizenship

The treatment of women as individuals

Slow change: the presence of women in democratic politics

Substantive representation: women's policy agendas

Discussion: the masculine bias of political institutions

Conclusions

4. Why is Democracy so Surprising?

5. Constitutional Reform: Death, Rebirth and Renewal

I

II

III

6. Three Types of Majority Rule

A UK trio: 2010, 2015, 2017

What is so good about majority rule?

The Westminster system

Double majority government

The issue-by-issue majority

Second chambers

Conclusion

7. Rethinking Political Communication

The problem and the question

Communication, party and people

The form of the content

8. Protecting Democratic Legitimacy in a Digital Age

9. Rethinking Democracy with Social Media

What do we know? The value of small things

Scaling up-or not

Losing control of democracy

Democratic grief

Examining the evidence for the death of democracy

Taking back control? Building transparency and accountability back into democracy

Stabilising democracy in the social media age

10. Post-Democracy and Populism

Why the popularity of xenophobic populism?

Populism as a problem

11. Relating and Responding to the Politics of Resentment

The imperfect foundations of politics

Class, identity and politics

Politics and competence

The politics of resentment

Finding a new political vehicle: a radical devolution?

Acknowledgements

Notes.

12. A Hundred Years of British Democracy

Index

End User License Agreement.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781119554776

1119554772

OCLC:

1083041996