Claudia Chwalisz - The Populist Signal: Why Politics and Democracy Need to Change

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THE POPULIST SIGNAL

Why Politics and Democracy Need to Change

Claudia Chwalisz

London New York

Published by Rowman & Littlefield International Ltd.

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Copyright 2015 Policy Network

The right of Claudia Chwalisz to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: PB 978-1-78348-542-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015941919

ISBN 978-1-78348-542-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-78348-543-7 (electronic)

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Printed in the United States of America

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T his publication is the culmination of an 18 month-long research project, supported generously by the Barrow Cadbury Trust. Michael McTernan at Policy Network has been instrumental in shaping the direction of this research from the very start. His intellectual insights have been tremendously valuable on every level and added greater solidity to the final text. Thank you to Patrick Diamond and Renaud Thillaye at Policy Network for their thoughtful comments on the early drafts. Robert Philpot and Ben Dilks have been astute and patient editors. Lord Liddle, Katherine Roberts and Emma Kinloch warrant a special mention for ensuring the project was on track intellectually and organisationally. Ayesha Saran and Clare Gilhooly at the Barrow Cadbury Trust have been incredibly supportive along the way. I would also like to thank Anna Reeve and the team at our publishers, Rowman & Littlefield International.

An important note of thanks also goes to the individuals whom I interviewed, for their time, advice and stimulating reflections. David Van Reybrouck and his inspiring book Contre les lections [ Against Elections ] were a considerable prompt in the direction of exploring democratic innovations. His enthusiasm and suggestions helped put me down a path which led to the case studies detailed here. Ronald Plasterk, Harm Van Dijk, Job Cohen, Sven Gatz, Ziggy Vandebriel, and Joke Quintens were extremely helpful in shedding light on the exciting new deliberative initiatives in the Netherlands and Belgium. David Farrell deserves a special mention for his contribution to an important seminar on the Irish Constitutional Convention. Luca Belgiorno-Nettis offered his insights and enthusiasm from first-hand involvement with leading democratic experiments in Australia. The Canadian examples benefit greatly from input by Andrea Reimer and Peter MacLeod. Kirsti Methis insights helped inform the Norwegian case study.

Thank you also to Jane Mansbridge, Graham Smith, Kathryn Perera, Will Jennings, Anthony Painter, Matthew Flinders, Matthew Wood, Will Brett, Anthony Zacharzewski, Vernon Bogdanor and Martin Wilding for your valuable exchanges about political engagement, sortition, deliberative theory and the future of democracy.

A notable mention is equally deserved by those who helped shape the project in its early stages. Tim Bale, Paul Taggart, Cristbal Rovira Kaltwasser, Anthony Painter, Vidhya Ramalingam, Michael Kenny, Ernst Hillebrand, Ren Cuperus and Ayesha Saran offered valuable feedback about populism, devolution and identity politics. The speakers at the five seminars informing the project also merit recognition for their thought-provoking remarks: thank you to David Marquand, Ernst Hillebrand, Alison McGovern, Tim Bale, Matthew Taylor, Alexandra Jones, Martien Kuitenbrouwer, Jessica Studdert and Matthew Goodwin for launching the project with a debate about understanding the populist signal and the power of cities and community-building in the fight against populism. Robert Ford, Jacqui Smith, John McTernan, Natascha Engel and Sunder Katwala deserve thanks for contributing to the controversial debate about Ukips threat to Labour. On questions around populism, power and place, Vernon Bogdanor, Jonathan Carr-West, Gerry Hassan, Kat Healy, Joe Goldberg, Mike Kenny, Michael Keating and Mary Riddell offered a range of stimulating propositions about devolution and democratic legitimacy. David Farrell, Kathryn Perera, Georgia Gould, Anthony Painter and John McDermott inspired debate and new ideas about how we can reinvigorate our democratic institutions and political parties for the 21st century in a hyper-connected age.