1st Edition

Political Disaffection in Contemporary Democracies Social Capital, Institutions and Politics

    336 Pages 27 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    400 Pages 27 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Citizens of many democracies are becoming more critical of basic political institutions and detached and disaffected from politics in general.

    This is a new comparative analysis of this trend that focuses on major democracies throughout Latin America, Asia and Central Europe. It brings together leading scholars to address three key areas of the current debate:

    • the conceptual discussion surrounding political disaffection
    • the factors causing voters to turn away from politics
    • the actual consequences for democracy

    This is a highly relevant topic as representative democracies are coming to face new developments. It deals with the reasons and consequences of the so called ‘democratic deficit’ in a systematic way that enables the reader to develop a well-rounded sense of the area and its main debates.

    This book is an invaluable resource for all students of political science, sociology, cultural studies and comparative politics.

    Preface

    List of Tables

    List of Figures

    I. Introduction

    1. Political Disaffection in Comparative Perspective.

    Mariano Torcal (Universitat Pompeu Fabra [UPF], Barcelona) and José Ramón Montero (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid [UAM]).

    II. Concepts and Dimensions

    2. Democracy, Disaffection and Institutions: Some Neo-Tocquevillean Speculations.

    Claus Offe (Humboldt-Universität Berlin)

    3. The Multidimensionality of Political Support for New Democracies:

    Conceptual Redefinition and Empirical Refinement

    Richard P. Gunther (Ohio State University) and José Ramón Montero (UAM)

    III. Causes I: Institutional Disaffection and Social Capital

    4. Institutional Confidence and Social Trust: Aggregate and Individual Relations

    Kenneth Newton (University of Southampton)

    5. Democracy and Involvement: The Benevolent Aspects of Social Participation

    Jan W. van Deth (Universität Mannheim)

    6. Understanding the Relationship between Social Capital and Political Disaffection in the New Post-Communist Democracies

    Geoffrey Evans (Oxford University) and Natalia Letki (Oxford University)

    IV. Causes II: Politics and Institutions

    7. Political Disaffection and Democratization History in New Democracies

    Mariano Torcal (UPF)

    8. Confidence in Parliaments: Performance, Representation and Accountability

    Pedro C. Magalhaes (Social Sciences Institute of the University of Lisbon).

    9. Political Disaffection and Political Performance: Norway 1957-2001

    Ola Listhaug (The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim)

    10. Italy, Forty Years of Political Disaffection: A Longitudinal Exploration.

    Paolo Segatti (Università di Pavia)

    V. Consequences: Participation, Protest, and Information

    11. Does protest Signify Disaffection? Demonstrators in a Postindustrial Democracy' Pippa Norris (Harvard University), Stefaan Walgreve (University of Antwerpen) and Peter van Aelst (University of Antwerpen)

    12. Political Participation, Information and Accountability: Some Consequences of Political Disaffection in New Democracies

    Mariano Torcal (UPF) and Ignacio Lago (Juan March)

    V. Conclusions

    13. Some Basic Conclusions About Political Disaffection in Contemporary Representatives Democracies

    José Ramón Montero (UAM) and Mariano Torcal (UPF)

     

    Biography

    Mariano Torcal, José Ramón Montero