Responsible Parties : Saving Democracy from Itself / Frances Rosenbluth, Ian Shapiro.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rosenbluth, Frances, author.

Shapiro, Ian, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political parties.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (335 pages)

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

How popular democracy has paradoxically eroded trust in political systems worldwide, and how to restore confidence in democratic politics In recent decades, democracies across the world have adopted measures to increase popular involvement in political decisions. Parties have turned to primaries and local caucuses to select candidates; ballot initiatives and referenda allow citizens to enact laws directly; many places now use proportional representation, encouraging smaller, more specific parties rather than two dominant ones.Yet voters keep getting angrier.There is a steady erosion of trust in politicians, parties, and democratic institutions, culminating most recently in major populist victories in the United States, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. Frances Rosenbluth and Ian Shapiro argue that devolving power to the grass roots is part of the problem. Efforts to decentralize political decision-making have made governments and especially political parties less effective and less able to address constituents' long-term interests. They argue that to restore confidence in governance, we must restructure our political systems to restore power to the core institution of representative democracy: the political party.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

CHAPTER ONE. Misdiagnosing Democracy's Ills

CHAPTER TWO. The Means and Ends of Democratic Competition

CHAPTER THREE. Vulnerable Minorities

CHAPTER FOUR. Big Strong Parties: Westminster

CHAPTER FIVE. Big Weak Parties: The American Variant

CHAPTER SIX. Strong Parties in Small European Democracies

CHAPTER SEVEN. The French Mix

CHAPTER EIGHT. Of Labradoodles and Poodledors: Germany

CHAPTER NINE. Wannabe Labradoodles: New Zealand, Italy, Japan, and Mexico

CHAPTER TEN. Presidentialism with Small Weak Parties: Latin America

CHAPTER ELEVEN. Creeping Authoritarianism in Eastern Europe

CHAPTER TWELVE. Ways Forward

Notes

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 20. Sep 2019)

ISBN:

9780300241051

0300241054

OCLC:

1056109662