Rethinking Party Reform
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:16th Dec '19
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
The functioning of representative democracy crucially depends on political parties that mediate between citizens and the state. It is widely doubted, however, that contemporary parties can still perform this connective role. Taking seriously the ensuing challenges for representative democracy, Rethinking Party Reform advances a normative account of party reform, drawing on both democratic theory and political science scholarship on parties. Moving beyond purely descriptive or causal-analytical perspectives on party reform, the book clarifies on theoretical grounds why party reform is centrally important for the sustainability of established democracies, and what effective party reforms could look like in an age where most citizens look to parties with scepticism and distrust. In doing so, this book underlines in distinctive fashion why scholars and citizens should care about re-inventing and transforming political parties, resisting widespread tendencies of either declaring parties unreformable or theorising them out of the picture.
His book fills a lacuna in deliberative democracy scholarship, which has been insufficiently attentive to political parties, even though they are (and will likely remain) very powerful democratic actors ... This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of political parties and democracy in general. * Cristina Lafont, Perspectives on Politics *
Parties can be reformed, Wolkenstein argues - and democracy depends on it. By looking at democracy in action ... and connecting it to a normative ideal of deliberative democracy, Wolkenstein locates a democratic future that works, that makes the promise of popular sovereignty real. This is the kind of book democracy today needs. * Russell Muirhead, Robert Clements Professor of Democracy and Politics, Dartmouth College *
In an age of harsh criticism of parties as either corrupt power machines or mere expressions of populist resentment, it is time to fundamentally rethink this major democratic institution. In this brilliant book, Fabio Wolkenstein combines the best of empirical analysis and normative theory to make a case for a deliberative conception of parties. In a unique way, he shows the path toward a renewed practice of party politics which is partisan and activist as well as discursive and rational. A great synthetic achievement that will open many doors for fresh thinking. * Rainer Forst, Professor of Political Theory and Philosophy, Goethe University Frankfurt *
ISBN: 9780198849940
Dimensions: 238mm x 156mm x 19mm
Weight: 478g
224 pages