The Populist Signal: Why Politics and Democracy
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1 THE POPULIST SIGNAL About Policy Network Policy Network is an international thinktank and research institute. Its network spans national borders across Europe and the wider world with the aim of promot- ing the best progressive thinking on the major social and economic challenges of the 21st century. Our work is driven by a network of politicians, policymakers, business leaders, public service professionals, and academic researchers who work on long-term issues relating to public policy, political economy, social attitudes, governance and international affairs. This is complemented by the expertise and research excellence of Policy Network’s international team. A platform for research and ideas • Promoting expert ideas and political analysis on the key economic, social and political challenges of our age. • Disseminating research excellence and relevant knowledge to a wider public audience through interactive policy networks, including interdisciplinary and scholarly collaboration. • Engaging and informing the public debate about the future of European and global progressive politics. A network of leaders, policymakers and thinkers • Building international policy communities comprising individuals and affiliate institutions. • Providing meeting platforms where the politically active, and potential leaders of the future, can engage with each other across national borders and with the best thinkers who are sympathetic to their broad aims. • Engaging in external collaboration with partners including higher education institutions, the private sector, thinktanks, charities, community organisations, and trade unions. • Delivering an innovative events programme combining in-house seminars with large-scale public conferences designed to influence and contribute to key public debates. About the Barrow Cadbury Trust The Barrow Cadbury Trust is an independent charitable foundation, committed to bringing about socially just change. We provide grants to grassroots community groups and campaigns working in deprived communities in the UK, with a focus on Birmingham and the Black Country. We also work with researchers, thinktanks and government, often in partnership with other grant-makers, to overcome the structural barriers to a more just and equal society. THE POPULIST SIGNAL Why Politics and Democracy Need to Change Claudia Chwalisz London • New York Published by Rowman & Littlefield International Ltd. Unit A, Whitacre, 26-34 Stannary Street, London, SE11 4AB www.rowmaninternational.com Rowman & Littlefield International Ltd. is an affiliate of Rowman & Littlefield 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706, USA With additional offices in Boulder, New York, Toronto (Canada), and Plymouth (UK) www.rowman.com Copyright © 2015 Policy Network The right of Claudia Chwalisz to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: PB 978-1-78348-542-0 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015941919 ISBN 978-1-78348-542-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-78348-543-7 (electronic) ∞ ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America CONTENTS Acknowledgements vii Executive Summary xi Introduction 1 The Political Drivers of Populism 13 Democratic Innovations: Deliberative Mini-Publics, Random Selection and New Forms of Digital Engagement 31 Democratic Innovations in Practice: Exemplary Case Studies from Around the World 61 Conclusion 93 References 99 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This publication is the culmination of an 18 month-long research project, supported generously by the Barrow Cadbury Trust. Michael McTernan at Policy Network has been instrumental in shaping the direction of this research from the very start. His intellectual insights have been tremendously valuable on every level and added greater solidity to the final text. Thank you to Patrick Diamond and Renaud Thillaye at Policy Network for their thoughtful comments on the early drafts. Robert Philpot and Ben Dilks have been astute and patient editors. Lord Liddle, Katherine Roberts and Emma Kinloch warrant a special mention for ensuring the project was on track intel- lectually and organisationally. Ayesha Saran and Clare Gilhooly at the Barrow Cadbury Trust have been incredibly supportive along the way. I would also like to thank Anna Reeve and the team at our publishers, Rowman & Littlefield International. An important note of thanks also goes to the individuals whom I interviewed, for their time, advice and stimulating reflections. David Van Reybrouck and his inspiring book Contre les élections [Against Elections] were a considerable prompt in the direction of exploring democratic innovations. His enthusiasm and suggestions helped put me down a path which led to the case studies detailed here. Ronald Plasterk, Harm Van Dijk, Job Cohen, Sven Gatz, vii viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ziggy Vandebriel, and Joke Quintens were extremely helpful in shedding light on the exciting new deliberative initiatives in the Netherlands and Belgium. David Farrell deserves a special mention for his contribution to an important seminar on the Irish Constitu- tional Convention. Luca Belgiorno-Nettis offered his insights and enthusiasm from first-hand involvement with leading democratic experiments in Australia. The Canadian examples benefit greatly from input by Andrea Reimer and Peter MacLeod. Kirsti Methi’s insights helped inform the Norwegian case study. Thank you also to Jane Mansbridge, Graham Smith, Kathryn Perera, Will Jennings, Anthony Painter, Matthew Flinders, Matthew Wood, Will Brett, Anthony Zacharzewski, Vernon Bogdanor and Martin Wilding for your valuable exchanges about political engage- ment, sortition, deliberative theory and the future of democracy. A notable mention is equally deserved by those who helped shape the project in its early stages. Tim Bale, Paul Taggart, Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser, Anthony Painter, Vidhya Ramalingam, Michael Kenny, Ernst Hillebrand, René Cuperus and Ayesha Saran offered valuable feedback about populism, devolution and identity politics. The speakers at the five seminars informing the project also merit recognition for their thought-provoking remarks: thank you to David Marquand, Ernst Hillebrand, Alison McGovern, Tim Bale, Matthew Taylor, Alexandra Jones, Martien Kuitenbrouwer, Jessica Studdert and Matthew Goodwin for launching the project with a debate about understanding the populist signal and the power of cities and community-building in the fight against populism. Robert Ford, Jacqui Smith, John McTernan, Natascha Engel and Sunder Katwala deserve thanks for contributing to the controversial debate about Ukip’s threat to Labour. On questions around populism, power and place, Vernon Bogdanor, Jonathan Carr-West, Gerry Hassan, Kat Healy, Joe Goldberg, Mike Kenny, Michael Keating and Mary Riddell offered a range of stimulating propositions about devolution and democratic legitimacy. David Farrell, Kathryn Perera, Georgia Gould, Anthony Painter and John McDermott inspired debate and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix new ideas about how we can reinvigorate our democratic institutions and political parties for the 21st century in a hyper-connected age. Finally, Bobby Duffy, Gideon Skinner and Glenn Gottfried at Ipsos Mori were incredibly helpful with the polling for this research, providing constructive and useful feedback on the questions. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This publication is about the turbulent political scene unfolding in Britain and across western Europe. About the rise of populists as a product of disillusionment with political parties and elections, of people feeling like they do not have a voice in the decisions being taken by those who are meant to represent them. It focuses not on the economic and cultural determinants of populism, but on why large swathes of voters feel that politics does not work and how this fuels support for insurgent parties and actors. The social and economic shifts of the past few decades have hard- ened the deeply held scepticism and distrust of ‘the establishment’. The ability of policies devised by national governments to achieve their desired aims has been diminished by factors beyond national borders. In an age of historically low party membership, party identifi- cation, voter volatility, rising abstentionism and greater individualism, mainstream parties are struggling to be representative. In the 2015 British election, only 25 per cent of the total electorate voted Conser- vative and 20 per cent Labour. This means that once again the biggest party was non-voters, comprising 34 per cent of those eligible to vote. A change in values has exacerbated resentment towards the main- stream elite. Older generations grew up in a society that was mainly white, less educated, with strict rules about sex, marriage, speech and morals. They had confidence in collective organisations such as xi xii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY political parties and trade unions to represent their interests. With the changing