Samenvatting The Governance and Politics of Social Problems
College 1, 26/10/2020, 15:30
Distinctive democratic systems in Europe, similar problems
1) differences and similarities political science and the study of governance and public administration
2) political systems and systems of government: in theory and in practice
3) manners in which common challenges are faced.
Political Science and Public Administration need to work together to understand the political system.
When you vote you look at what the government has done for you with your tax money.
Comparative approach;
Interconnectedness and distinctiveness of European democracies (example 2018, refugees Italy and
Spain).
Cultural, ethnic, religious and economic cleavages in Europe. Very diverse continent.
Europe has also countries who are or are not part of the European Union.
The populist backlash and the rise of authoritarianism
Flawed democracies and hybrid authoritarianism. Differs across Europe.
Strong correlation between democracy and living in peace.
War is the worst a country can do. So also strong correlation between wealth and democracy.
Democracies are:
- wealthier;
- more industrialized;
- have more educated citizens;
- more urbanized
Why are some people against democracy then? Distrust established parties and politicians
Populist revolt against representative democracy
- Afzetten tegen politieke elite, want die alleen eigen belang en niet belangen van het volk te
vertegenwoordigen
- Populist zegt man van het volk te zijn om volk belangen te behartigen (vaak rechts)
Mudde: populism is a symptom of a democratic deficit (tekort), not the cause…
Key problem: Many people still support central idea of liberal democracy, but distrust established
parties and politicians.
Nevertheless, people are ambivalent (emoties in conflict) and more centrist/moderate than often
assumed.
European democracies are characterized by their strong welfare states:
European governments tend to engage in relatively high levels of:
- economic redistribution
- extensive social protection supports (such as pensions and unemployment assistance)
Populism is a push-back:
Politics is about conflict between competing interests and goals, and across Europe politics is far more
polarized and contentious now than it has been for a long time.
Left: wealth, redistribution, social justice, labour protection, state intervention…
vs
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,Right: market freedoms, welfare entrenchment (verschansing), economic deregulation, labour market
flexibilization…
Authoritarian: nativism, traditional values, law and order, monoculturalism…
vs
Libertarian: Individual freedoms, gender equality, secularism (= geloof en religie mogen geen invloed
uitoefenen op de maatschappij), multiculturalism…
POLARISATION
Increasing ideological distance between political parties, particularly on cultural issues like immigration
and refugees.
Political polarisation: Ideological (entitled to opinion, respect each other) and affective (doubting
morality, no longer respect each other) polarisation:
- The left is suspicious of the right, and the right suspicious of the left
Too much polarisation: no acceptance of elite cooperation and political compromise (you’ll never
bridge the gap between parties)
Societal polarisation: meaningful party competition and can increase political participation and trust.
Yet, portraying opponents as ‘enemies’ undermines democratic values and practices
Populist ‘logic’ is polarising
- populists question the motives and morality of politicians, not their policies
- Populists frame the elite and all traditional institutions become the ‘enemy of the people’ (trust
erodes) Societal polarisation
Causes:
- the global economic crisis
- increasing economic inequality within and between nations
- accompanying anti-immigrant sentiments.
Immigration: reduces shared cultural norms and communication (language), forcing European
societies to deal with social dilemmas of increasing diversity: multiculturalism or ‘forced’ assimilation
(socialisatieproces van immigranten die hun cultuur overheersen), which fuel a politics where ethnic/
religious differences are politicised.
Populism: an increase in
- Anti-establishment (vestiging/ instelling)
- Anti-experts / intellectualism
- Pro ‘common sense’
- Simple (and immediate) solutions
- Out-group derogation (you think other groups are secondary groups, not deserving)
POLITICAL DISCONTENT (left behind vs. squeezed middle)
The ‘Left behind’ (losers of progress / globalisation): middle class / lower classes
Why is impoverished middle class discontent:
- Declining (achteruitgaan) return on education
- Increased debt for newer generations
- Generational gap with income differences
- Decline in social mobility gains
- Since 1980’s the salaries have not risen with the increased production
Squeezed middle class
- can’t reach the next step
- are left increasingly behind, looking like the lower classes used to be
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,- causes: the global economic crisis, increasing inequality within and between nations and
accompanying anti-immigrant sentiments
STRUCTURAL SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGE
Populist support:
- Traditional lower middle class support for far-right politics
- Working-class (blue-collar voters).
- Lower and middle class economic prosperity and social security declined with neo-liberal
austerity and welfare state retrenchment (bezuiniging) policies.
- Because: Their ‘bargaining’ (onderhandelen) power is shrinking due to outsourcing to cheap
labour countries, automatization/robotics, competition with labour migrants
New Media and Populism (mediated populism):
- New media creates an ‘increasingly individualised civic environment’ in which public engagement is a
personal experience, not a collective affair
- This results in a blurring of private and public sphere, as well as obfuscate professional and private
life.
- Filter bubbles and selective exposure insulates people from opinion-adverse information
- Key problem: many people still support the central idea of liberal democracy, but no longer
support/trust established liberal democratic parties and politicians.
Parliamentary democracy: Government depends on legislative (wetgevend) majority to exist and head
of state is not popularly elected for a fixed term.
Difference
Populist politics: overwrite everything
Traditional parties: defend law
Parliaments: in parliamentary or ‘fused-power’ systems versus
congresses: in presidential or ‘separation-of-power’ systems
Decline (achteruitgang) of traditional centrist politics
Christian democracy: structural decline of core electorate of religious voters.
- Disappearance ideological reference point of Christian democracy.
- No longer catch-all people’s parties with broad cross-class support.
- Loss of embedment (inbedding) in civil society.
- No intermediary (bemiddelaar) position between market (liberalism) and state (socialism)
2 ways of loss of social cohesion and fabric
Transformation of class composition and structure (political sociology):
1 Ethno-stratification (scheiding tussen groepen) of the working class
2 Fragmentation of the middle class
Fragmentation: many new parties successfully entering the party system with the simultaneously
shrinking of the former major parties.
Representation and voting 28/10/2020
Comparing political systems: electoral systems and the transformation of the political space
Voting is making a link to elite and the mass. Elite-Mass relationship. What the mass of people want.
Mass put their voice in the political system.
Random selection: Kleroterion: used to select citizens to public office and jury service in ancient
Athens. Equal chance of being elite and voice interest.
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, Democracy
- Core function: nominating people for elections
- Main functions: political opinion making, interest integration/aggregation, socialization and
mobilisation, governing (and opposition), legitimisation
- we don’t decide everything together, so we select certain individuals who take those decisions for us
- When democracy increases more people are included (women, disabled etc) so we needed a new
system -> we move to a representative democracy
- People are elected by elections, so a select number of people have the ambition to be in politics
(choose it as a profession)
- Important that representatives mean something to the public (that the public feels represented)
- If political parties function well, people find politics legitimate
Representative democracy
Models of representation. Modern democracies are built on the logic of representation: the processes
of devising, scrutinizing and choosing between policy alternatives are carried out for the most part not
by voters themselves, but by their representatives.
4 models of representation:
- Trusteeship (beheerders-schap): Experts (knowledge, education and experience) who act in
the best interest of constituents without necessarily consulting them. Know what is best and
know how to have stable society.
- Delegation (vertegenwoordiging): only mirror the views of their constituents, making regular
consultation necessary before deciding on behalf of constitutions. Little or no capacity to
exercise his or her own judgement or preferences (clear assignment, and you want to do that,
you have a meeting and there you try to move around in the policies)
- Mandate (mandaat/opdracht): Representatives adhere to the policy prescriptions which got
them elected to power. vote for me and i will do this.
- difference delegate and mandate, a delegate can go back and try and change, a mandate is a
written down prescription
- Resemblance (gelijkenis): Look like you, same background, religion etc.. Representatives typify
characteristics of the larger group to which they belong to represent the interest of the group
(resemblance model is easier in a homogeneous society, than a multi-cultural plural society)
Representative democracy necessitates elections
- you can’t have everyone included in decisions (not very efficient, you need specialisation)
- But elections ≠ democracy (most authoritarian regimes hold elections, not free and fair tho)
Liberal Democracy; power of government is constrained by constitutional rules which are upheld by an
independent judicial system. So it is restrained, cannot do everything.
Prerequisite (= required) : rule of law
- a constitution that also limits actions and rule of powerful
- Fixed rules
- historically developed institutional (and cultural) guaranties that prevent the abuse of power
- limits the power of power-holders, because have to uphold rules
In democracy opposition is crucial: countervailing power / counter-force
- too much concentration of power (like michels’ iron law of the oligarchy)
- Opposition vs. (incumbent=zittende) elite
- provide a check (and alternative) to those in power.
counter-force is possible by a legitimate political opposition.
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