Politics in the times of indignation : the crisis of representative democracy

Translated by Sandra Kingery from the Spanish original 'La política en tiempos de indignación' (2015)Politics in the times of indignation provides a critical look at Western liberal democracies in crisis, to provide us with the theoretical tools to make sense of the political disorientation of our times.Indispensable for understanding the present state of democratic societies, this book is a lens through which we can study numerous contemporary developments. He examines the popular indignation that has accompanied the crisis of governmental legitimacy, which is aggravated by the economic crisis in various countries and demonstrated by groups such as the Occupy Wall Street Movement in the US, Podemos in Spain, or La France Insoumise in France. At the same time, Innerarity endeavors to offer a universal, rather than a merely circumstantial, interpretation of the transformations that are still ongoing in our political systems, as well as of those that need to be put in place in order to satisfy the expectations and rights of democratic citizenship. Politics in the Times of Indignation represents a guiding thread through political developments, as well as a conceptual tool-box for understanding the meaning of the current crisis of representation, the fate of political parties, the relation between ethics and politics, and how politics can become an intelligent enterprise.-- Introduction: A Taxonomy of Idiocy in Politics; Part One: Who Does Politics?; Chapter 1: Old and New Political Subjects; Praise and scorn for the political class; Politics of the many and politics of the few; The role of experts in a democracy; Chapter 2: The End of Political Parties?; The age of containers; Ambiguities of disintermediation; Political parties after the end of political parties; Chapter 3: Politics of Recognition; From redistribution to recognition; The 'who' also matters; A new equity; Chapter 4: Right to Decide?; Who decides what? The constitutional paradoxTransnational self-determination; Part Two: The Political Condition; Chapter 5: Political Time; The uncertainty of politics; Too soon or too late; On success and failure in politics; Chapter 6: Political Discourse; Rhetoric and ideologies under suspicion; Doing things with words; Truth and lies in the extra-political sense; Chapter 7: Politics of Emotions; Rationalists and sentimentalists; Emotional-populist disorder; Chapter 8: The Importance of Reaching Agreement; The dramatization of antagonism; Principles and compromises; The weight of campaigns on governments The political culture in relationship with 'others' Chapter 9: Democratic Disappointment; The bewilderment of Leviathan; What if democracy were like that?; A regime of negativity; What can we expect in a democracy?; Part Three: Politics in Hard Times; Chapter 10: The Age of Limits; The limitation of knowledge as a resource of government: The cognitive competence of politics; The limitation of power as a government resource: Another political authority; The limits of money as a resource of government: Politics in the midst of austerity; The new tasks of politics Chapter 11: Politics after IndignationFrom revolution to indignation; Democratic tension; Ballot boxes and dreams; Democratic deception; Indignation is not enough; Chapter 12: Democracy without Politics; An intermittent citizenry; The ideology of the negative sovereign; Involuntary de-politicization; The great rift; A defence of indirect democracy; Part Four: Some Platitudes; Chapter 13: Democracies of Representative Proximity and Distance; The desire for disintermediation; Direct democracy; In praise of political distance; Paradoxes of democratic self-determination The representability of society Chapter 14: How Much Transparency Do Our Democracies Require and Tolerate?; The observation society; The disadvantages of being observed; Transparency or publicity?; The private lives of politicians; From the power of the word to the power of vision: Ocular democracy; Chapter 15: The Importance and the Limits of Moralizing Politics; The time for public ethics; Paying attention to values; The weakness of politics; Chapter 16: What Remains of the Left and Right; Is reality right-wing?; The market: An invention of the left; Political cultures of the right and left; Chapter 16: What Remains of the Left and Right, Is reality right-wing?, The market: An invention of the left; Political cultures of the right and left; Governmental credibility; The challenge of being in the opposition; A small theory of political ties -- Part Five: The Future of Politics; Chapter 17: What Is This Thing Called Governance?; What crisis?; Politics as a field of innovation; From government to governance: A concept for the renovation of politics; A new political culture to govern the global knowledge society; Chapter 18: Politics as an Intelligent Activity; The strategic deficit of politics; The excessive personalization of politics; Intelligence of people or of systems?; The sovereign that learns -- Bibliography -- Inde