Description
Book SynopsisRepresentative politics is in crisis. Trust in politicians is at an all-time low. Fewer people are voting or joining political parties, and our interest in parliamentary politics is declining fast. Even oppositional and radical parties that should be benefitting from public disenchantment with politics are suffering.
Trade ReviewSpirited and clearly written, Tormey's searching interrogation of political representation as we've come to know it is sharp, provocative and compelling. Drawing widely on history, theory and contemporary developments, it will bring a new vibrancy to current debates on democracy's potential futures.
Michael Saward, University of Warwick
"Timely, provocative and rigorous too. Tormey has produced an important resource for all who share the hunch that far from politics being dead, a new kind of politics is being born and with it a more pervasive democracy for which we all have responsibility."
Hilary Wainwright, author of Reclaim the State: Experiments in Popular Democracy, and a founding editor of Red Pepper.
"The book is informative and clearly written and provides fresh insights on the transformation of representative politics. It gives a new approach to our understanding of contemporary politics."
Political Studies Review
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements vi
Introduction 1
1 Contours of a 'Crisis' 15
2 Locating 'Representative Politics' 37
3 Are We Becoming Unrepresentable? 59
4 Is the Party Over? 83
5 Citizens against Representation 105
6 Democracy after Representation 125
Notes 150
References 152
Index 160
