Democratic Decline and Democratic Renewal: Political Change in Britain, Australia and New Zealand

ISBN-13: 9781107025684 / Angielski / Twarda / 2012 / 394 str.

Ian Marsh

Opis

The story of liberal democracy over the last half century has been a triumphant one in many ways, with the number of democracies increasing from a minority of states to a significant majority. Yet substantial problems afflict democratic states, and while the number of democratic countries has expanded, democratic practice has contracted. This book introduces a novel framework for evaluating the rise and decline of democratic governance. Examining three mature democratic countries Britain, Australia and New Zealand the authors discuss patterns of governance from the emergence of mass democracy at the outset of the twentieth century through to its present condition. The shared political cultures and institutional arrangements of the three countries allow the authors to investigate comparatively the dynamics of political evolution and the possibilities for systemic developments and institutional change."

Recenzje

'Marsh and Miller make a significant contribution to this topic with this rich study of political change in Britain, Australia and New Zealand.' Russell J. Dalton, Japanese Journal of Political Science

Spis treści

Part I. Introduction: 1. The decline and renewal of democratic governance: a theoretical framework; Part II. Political Change in Britain: The Development of a Strategy Gap: 2. The mass party system and state strategic capacity in Britain; 3. Neo-liberalism and the decline of state strategic capacity; 4. Why the gap in strategic capacity poses a systemic challenge; Part III. Political Change in Australia: The Development of a Representation Gap: 5. Everyman is king: representation and strategic capacity in Australia's mass party period; 6. Pluralised society, individualised politics: the gap between citizens and the formal political system; 7. Why a representation gap poses a systemic challenge (and the populist alternative); Part IV. Political Change in New Zealand: Voting Reform, Multi-Party Politics and Minority Government: 8. Identities and capabilities in the mass party era in New Zealand; 9. Neo-liberalism, social change and democracy; 10. Is electoral reform sufficient?; Part V. Democratic Renewal: 11. Reconnecting citizens to the political system; 12. The prospect for democratic renewal.