Overview

Is Democracy a Lost Cause? explores the current debate on democracy. It starts by discussing the meaning of 'democracy' and how the understanding of this important political concept has either broadened or contracted, depending on changing political circumstances. Mastropaolo then poses the question of what it means for democracy to be the 'government of the people'. He deals with the way in which democratic government has been affected by changes in the fabric of society, by the evolution of democratic theory itself, and by the transformations affecting the state and political parties. Political class and citizens' attitudes towards democratic politics, increasingly characterised by resentment and often taking the form of an anti-politics, are analysed in the concluding chapters. Paradoxes of an imperfect invention is the apt subtitle that Alfio Mastropaolo chose for his magnum opus. As a guide, the subtitle suggests that we read the book with a critical but open mind. Modern democracy is an institutional fact. It exists by a set of constitutive rules, themselves the product of human invention. The invention had no firm, willful starting point and it is not eternal; neither by definition nor in its set of rules. These are never perfect, not because subject to infringement and change but because they are not meant to be. Contrary to the rules of football or chess, also institutional inventions with their own history, they do not aim at a fixed outcome. Further, when democracy seems to become the only game in town, when other games fade out, then the restlessness of human invention if nothing else sets the course of human affairs in motion again. To paraphrase an American President, it's politics, stupid; and politics is here to stay. But democracy? To address the question, the best we can do is reculer pour mieux sauter. Mastropaolo provides a thorny, relentless guide through the exercise. Giuseppe Di Palma, Emeritus Professor, University of California, Berkeley ALFIO MASTROPAOLO is Professor of Political Science at the University of Turin. He published: Antipolitica: Alle Origini Della Crisi Italiana (L'Ancora, Napoli, 2000), La Mucca Pazza Della Democrazia: Nuove Destre, Populismo, Antipolitica (Bollati Boringhieri, Torino, 2005), The Center-Left's Poisoned Victory (ed. with J. L. Briquet, Berghahn, New York, 2007).

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9781907301384

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Paradoxes of an imperfect invention is the apt subtitle that Alfio Mastropaolo chose for his magnum opus. As a guide, the subtitle suggests that we read the book with an open mind, critical but open. Modern democracy is an institutional fact. It exists by a set of constitutive rules, themselves the product of human invention. The invention had no firm wilful starting point and it is not eternal; not by definition nor in its set of rules. That is because the rules are not perfect. That is not because they are violated, nor because they change, but because they are not meant to be perfect. Contrary to the rules of football or chess, themselves institutional inventions with their own history, they do not aim at a fixed outcome. Further, when democracy seems to become the only game in town, when other games are out, then the history of human affairs begins anew. To paraphrase an American President, it is politics, stupid, and politics is eternal. Democracy? All we can do is reculer pour mieux sauter. Mastropaolo is one formidable guide through the exercise. Professor Giuseppe Di Palma Professor Emeritus University of California, Berkeley Alfio Mastropaolo considers the past, present, future of democracy in terms of a fine synthesis of political and social theory, history and recent political science and cultural theory into an original and insistent account of its evolution in practice and in theory. Is democracy a lost cause? engages with the central concerns of the current debates about political institutions. Alfio Mastropaolo does not merely assess the main issues; he illuminates them by subjecting each to scrutiny from the various standpoints of contemporary argument. This is an imaginative and important contribution to our understanding of democracy, its critics and supporters. Joni Lovenduski Anniversary Professor of Politics Birkbeck College, University of London

Alfio Mastropaolo considers the past, present, future of democracy in terms of a fine synthesis of political and social theory, history and recent political science and cultural theory into an original and insistent account of its evolution in practice and in theory. Is Democracy a lost cause? engages with the central concerns of the current debates about political institutions. Alfio Mastropaolo does not merely assess the main issues, he illuminates them by subjecting each to scrutiny from the various standpoints of contemporary argument. This is an imaginative and important contribution to our understanding of democracy, its critics and supporters. Joni Lovenduski Anniversary Professor of Politics Birkbeck College, University of London Paradoxes of an imperfect invention is the apt subtitle that Alfio Mastropaolo chose for its magnum opus. As a guide, the subtitle suggests that we read the book with an open mind, critical but open. Modern democracy is an institutional fact. It exists by a set of constitutive rules, themselves the product of human invention. The invention had no firm willful starting point and it is not eternal; not by definition nor in its set of rules. That is because the rules are not perfect. That is not because they are violated, nor because they change, but be cause they are not meant to be perfect. Contrary to the rules of football or chess, themselves institutional inventions with their own history, they do not aim at a fixed outcome. Further, when democracy seems to become the only game in town, when other games are out, then history of human affairs begins anew. To paraphrase an American President, it is politics, stupid, and politics is eternal. Democracy? All we can do is reculer pour mieux sauter. Mastropaolo is one formidable guide through the exercise. Professor Giuseppe Di Palma Professor Emeritus University of California, Berkeley

Author Information

Alfio Mastropaolo teaches Political Science at the University of Turin. He is a specialist of Italian politics, of political elites and of democratic theory. His works include: Antipolitica, Alle origini della crisi italiana (2000) e La mucca pazza della democrazia. Nuove destre, populismo, antipolitica (2005).

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