Populism is growing and Europe is facing a possible shift to the right. How can Western democracies assert themselves in times of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin? Political scientist Ben Ansell makes suggestions.
In eastern Europe, Russia is waging war against Ukraine, across the Atlantic there is a threat of Donald Trump’s re-election to the White House – an already precarious situation for a Europe in which right-wing populists are gaining power and influence. How can politics work again, why do populism and ideology lead to disaster? British democracy expert Ben Ansell, author of the book “Why Politics So Often Fails,” answers these questions in an interview.
t-online: Professor Ansell, why does politics fail so often? They wrote a whole book about this question.
Ben Ansell: Politics is a pretty tricky concept. Some people are reminded of the corrupt machinations of politicians and are rather repelled by them, others associate politics with the opportunity to achieve collectively what is not possible individually. Which brings us to the core of the problem: We are individuals who have to act collectively. But for this it is necessary to overcome our egoism. By the way, that is the subtitle of my book.
Does that sound as if Western societies need therapy?
In fact, I see my book as a kind of therapy offer. Democracy, equality, solidarity, security and prosperity: these are the goals that humanity has been struggling to achieve for a long time, but in view of global warming and other crises we must fight even harder. It won’t work without politics; it could be our last hope.
However, more and more people are turning away from politics because they do not believe that there are solutions to today’s problems. What to do?
In fact, it turns into a shoe exactly the other way around. When does politics actually fail? When we try to do politics without politics. Instead, we look for solutions in the form of technological progress or political quacks and technocrats who want to convince us that it would be better to get rid of politics. I can only warn against this: in our age of populism, there is a great temptation to look for seemingly simple ways out of all the chaotic disagreements. But it is not that easy.
In fact, politicians often seem overwhelmed in the face of the multiple challenges. Has the world become too complex?
Can you tell me a place where things work? Someone once asked me this question. The answer is difficult because nowhere in the world do people seem to be truly happy.
Ben Ansell, born in 1977, teaches political science at Nuffield College, Oxford University. Ansell is one of the leading democracy researchers; his book “Why politics so often fails. And why things get better when we overcome our egoism“.
Especially not in western liberal societies. Why is that?
We have left behind a period of history in which there was only one truly powerful country on this planet, the USA. The will of the United States now counts far less; there are a number of active and aggressive competitors for the system with which Americans and Europeans grew up. Added to this is the stagnation of economic growth in many Western countries for several decades now.
Back then, the solution to upcoming problems was found in the wallet?
That’s how it can be expressed. Previous generations, including baby boomers, were able to deal with political conflicts by reaching financial agreements with the opposing side. That is much more difficult today. Although I do not accept the argument that the world is plagued by more conflicts today than before. There have also been plenty of crises in the past. But Germany is actually experiencing something new at the moment.
German politics is currently going through something it has not experienced since 1945. The same applies to Europe: elections are determined by populists. This is a particular shock for Germany because the country has experienced stability for a long time. Let’s take a phase in the USA for comparison: in 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot, five years later his brother Robert, who also wanted to move into the White House. Also in 1968, an assassin killed civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. while the war continued in Vietnam. President Richard Nixon then resigned in 1974 over the Watergate affair. That was extremely dramatic.
Now things are also becoming dramatic in our present day: Russia is waging a war of aggression and is destroying the European security architecture, China is rising and there is a threat of Donald Trump returning to power in the Western leading power, the USA.
