Why We Hate Politics

Politics was once a term with an array of broadly positive
connotations, associated with public scrutiny, deliberation and
accountability. Yet today it is an increasingly dirty word,
typically synonymous with duplicity, corruption, inefficiency and
undue interference in matters both public and private. How has this
come to pass? Why do we hate politics and politicians so much? How
pervasive is the contemporary condition of political disaffection?
And what is politics anyway?

In this lively and original work, Colin Hay provides a series of
innovative and provocative answers to these questions. He begins by
tracing the origins and development of the current climate of
political disenchantment across a broad range of established
democracies. Far from revealing a rising tide of apathy, however,
he shows that a significant proportion of those who have withdrawn
from formal politics are engaged in other modes of political
activity.

He goes on to develop and defend a broad and inclusive
conception of politics and the political that is far less formal,
less state-centric and less narrowly governmental than in most
conventional accounts. By demonstrating how our expectations of
politics and the political realities we witness are shaped
decisively by the assumptions about human nature that we project
onto political actors, Hay provides a powerful and highly
distinctive account of contemporary political disenchantment.
Why We Hate Politics will be essential reading for all those
troubled by the contemporary political condition of the established
democracies.

Autorentext
Colin Hay is Professor of Political Analysis at the University of Sheffield.

Zusammenfassung
Politics was once a term with an array of broadly positive connotations, associated with public scrutiny, deliberation and accountability. Yet today it is an increasingly dirty word, typically synonymous with duplicity, corruption, inefficiency and undue interference in matters both public and private. How has this come to pass? Why do we hate politics and politicians so much? How pervasive is the contemporary condition of political disaffection? And what is politics anyway?

In this lively and original work, Colin Hay provides a series of innovative and provocative answers to these questions. He begins by tracing the origins and development of the current climate of political disenchantment across a broad range of established democracies. Far from revealing a rising tide of apathy, however, he shows that a significant proportion of those who have withdrawn from formal politics are engaged in other modes of political activity.

He goes on to develop and defend a broad and inclusive conception of politics and the political that is far less formal, less state-centric and less narrowly governmental than in most conventional accounts. By demonstrating how our expectations of politics and the political realities we witness are shaped decisively by the assumptions about human nature that we project onto political actors, Hay provides a powerful and highly distinctive account of contemporary political disenchantment. Why We Hate Politics will be essential reading for all those troubled by the contemporary political condition of the established democracies.

Inhalt

List of Figures and Tables vi

Preface and Acknowledgements viii

1 Political Disenchantment 1

2 Politics, Participation and Politicization 61

3 The Domestic Sources of Depoliticization 90

4 The Global Sources of Depoliticization 123

5 Why Do We Hate Politics? 153

Notes 163

References 169

Index 180