Political Science 1020E Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Consumer Capitalism, Consumerism, Technocracy
16 Oct 2018
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Different explanations of civic disengagements and voter apathy.
➢ Politics
- Easy to defend, because peacekeeping and living together. However, politics is
doomed to disappoint consistently, because need for compromise so that no
group in society ever gets exactly what it wants. Moreover, the process of
claiming and demanding and competing and discussing is necessarily messy and
cumbersome.
➢ Politicians and parties, three ways
- 1) Power tends to corrupt in different ways: growing personal aggrandisement,
arrogance and loss of control; progressive contempt for subordinates, suspicion;
gradual separation from others and choice of advisors that always agree; total
lack of awareness that any corruption is present. Individual egoism, own interest
plus power equals corruption.
- 2) Politicians always have dirty hands. Because difficult decisions, moral and
practical dilemmas. That public do not want to think about.
- 3) Politicians have to work in system that force them to operate in a market in
which each seeks to out-bid the others. Thus they promise more than they can
deliver. Thus sometimes ideas to replace by technocracy (rule by the skilled).
- And in recent decades:
o Lack of vision > Shift to de-ideological parties. Only interest of politician.
o Age of spin > Modern media-obsessed age. Over concerned politicians in
communication and news management.
o All the same > Decline significance of left/right divide, more managerial
politics. Thus on big choices election have become less meaningful and
overstating minor issues. Narcissism of small differences.
o In it for themselves > Growth of professional lobbying, thus more focus on
politicians’ outside interest and sources of revenue. Thus self-serving and
dishonest.
Document Summary
Different explanations of civic disengagements and voter apathy. Easy to defend, because peacekeeping and living together. However, politics is doomed to disappoint consistently, because need for compromise so that no group in society ever gets exactly what it wants. Moreover, the process of claiming and demanding and competing and discussing is necessarily messy and cumbersome. Individual egoism, own interest plus power equals corruption. That public do not want to think about. 3) politicians have to work in system that force them to operate in a market in which each seeks to out-bid the others. Thus they promise more than they can deliver. Thus sometimes ideas to replace by technocracy (rule by the skilled). And in recent decades: lack of vision > shift to de-ideological parties. Only interest of politician: age of spin > modern media-obsessed age. Over concerned politicians in communication and news management: all the same > decline significance of left/right divide, more managerial politics.
