Democracy Erodes from the Top: Leaders, Citizens, and the Challenge of Populism in Europe

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Larry M. Bartels

Democracy Erodes from the Top

Leaders, Citizens, and the Challenge of Populism in Europe

Larry M. Bartels

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English

Princeton University Press
08 August 2024

Social & political philosophy; Political structures: democracy; Central government; Civil rights & citizenship

Series: Princeton Studies in Political Behavior

Why leaders, not citizens, are the driving force in Europe's crisis of democracy.

An apparent explosion of support for right-wing populist parties has triggered widespread fears that liberal democracy is facing its worst crisis since the 1930s. Democracy Erodes from the Top reveals that the real crisis stems not from an increasingly populist public but from political leaders who exploit or mismanage the chronic vulnerabilities of democracy.

In this provocative book, Larry Bartels dismantles the pervasive myth of a populist wave in contemporary European public opinion. While there has always been a substantial reservoir of populist sentiment, Europeans are no less trusting of their politicians and parliaments than they were two decades ago, no less enthusiastic about European integration, and no less satisfied with the workings of democracy. Anti-immigrant sentiment has waned. Electoral support for right-wing populist parties has increased only modestly, reflecting the idiosyncratic successes of populist entrepreneurs, the failures of mainstream parties, and media hype. Europe's most sobering examples of democratic backsliding

in Hungary and Poland

occurred not because voters wanted authoritarianism but because conventional conservative parties, once elected, seized opportunities to entrench themselves in power.

By demonstrating the inadequacy of conventional bottom-up interpretations of Europe's political crisis, Democracy Erodes from the Top turns our understanding of democratic politics upside down.

'A Foreign Affairs Best of Books'

'Bartels, a leading analyst of electoral democracy and public opinion in the United States, turns here to a central question in European politics: Do right-wing populist parties pose a threat to democracy, moderate politics, and multilateral cooperation? His point in this important book is simple yet powerful.'

Andrew Moravcsik, Foreign Affairs

'Eye-opening.'

Jan-Werner Mueller, Project Syndicate

By: Larry M. Bartels
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780691244525
ISBN 10: 0691244529
Series: Princeton Studies in Political Behavior
Pages: 280
Publication Date: 08 August 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Larry M. Bartels is University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Law and May Werthan Shayne Chair of Public Policy and Social Science at Vanderbilt University. His books include Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age and (with Christopher H. Achen) Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government (both Princeton).

Reviews for Democracy Erodes from the Top: Leaders, Citizens, and the Challenge of Populism in Europe

"""A Foreign Affairs Best of Books"" ""Bartels, a leading analyst of electoral democracy and public opinion in the United States, turns here to a central question in European politics: Do right-wing populist parties pose a threat to democracy, moderate politics, and multilateral cooperation? His point in this important book is simple yet powerful.""---Andrew Moravcsik, Foreign Affairs ""Eye-opening.""---Jan-Werner Mueller, Project Syndicate"