Aug
18
Democracy by Paul Ginsborg
Filed Under Politics | Leave a Comment
Ginsborg’s book on democracy is one of the more thoughtful contributions I’ve read to a debate I’ve been following for the last 10 years.It begins and ends with a mythical debate on democracy between Marx and Mill, contrasting the Marxist and libertarian traditions in democracy. He sets out 3 paradoxes: Direct democacy and communist dictatorship [...]
Feb
17
British democracy depends on political parties. But they are anachronistic, irrelevant and incomprehensible. Political parties require personal compromise, class identification and a culture of collective responsibility and deference – all of which are being eroded by changes to society. This is a problem because although they may not be formal state institutions, governments can’t be [...]