Many people expected the big political story of last year to be about the triumph of populism in Europe, but things did not turn out that way.
Instead, the biggest story was about self-styled “movements” upending or replacing traditional political parties.
Consider French President Emmanuel Macron’s La Republique En Marche (Republic on the Move, which swept the French presidential and parliamentary elections last spring. Or consider how, at the end of the year, 31-year-old Sebastian Kurz became chancellor of Austria after refashioning the conservative Austrian People’s Party (OVP) into a movement called “The Sebastian Kurz list — The New People’s Party.”
Across the European continent, more voters have come to see traditional political parties as self-interested and power-hungry. In the developing world, parties with well-established pedigrees, such as the African National Congress in South Africa, are widely regarded as corrupt.
In many cases, traditional parties have become what political scientists call “cartels”: They use state resources to remain in power and, regardless of their policy differences, they often work together to keep out challengers.
Young voters in particular seem to have less interest in working for traditional parties, which they view as overly bureaucratic and thus boring.
This brings to mind Oscar Wilde’s famous quip about the problem with socialism: It takes up too many evenings. Not surprisingly, then, the most innovative political experiments in Europe in recent years have emerged from street protests and mass assemblies that eschewed hierarchical forms of organization.
For example, Spain’s left-wing Podemos was formed after mass demonstrations by the indignados in 2011. Italy’s populist Five Star Movement (M5S), which came out on top in Italy’s 2013 parliamentary elections and is predicted to do well again this year, emerged from large rallies organized by comedian Beppe Grillo against la casta — his derogatory term for what he sees as the nation’s ruling caste of professional politicians and journalists.
However, something funny happened between these movements’ origins as spontaneous, inclusive street protests and their later success at the ballot box. Ironically, even as they have continued to tout horizontal forms of organization and participatory democracy, their charismatic leaders have concentrated ever more power in their own hands.
For instance, Podemos secretary-general Pablo Iglesias has drawn criticism from idealistic activists in the movement for his “hyper-leadership” and “online Leninism.” In response, Iglesias has said: “One cannot storm heaven by consensus.”
Grillo holds no official position in M5S, which bills itself as a “non-association,” and yet he owns the blog that has been key to the movement’s success, as well as the copyright to its official symbol.
He has revoked M5S members’ right to use that symbol for supposedly breaking the “rules” — or what is officially called the “non-statute” — of his “anti-party,” and those running for public office under the M5S banner must sign a contract promising to pay fines if they violate party principles.
Of course, political movements are not necessarily populist in nature. As the Green and feminist movements have shown, a movement can contest traditional forms of politics without claiming to represent “the real people” or the “silent majority.”
However, today’s political movements also tend to be less pluralistic than the large parties that have dominated post-war European politics. This makes sense, given that “movement” implies not just dynamism, but also a presumption that all members are in complete agreement about the path forward.
The problem is that when everyone supposedly already agrees on where they are going, there seems to be no need for extensive democratic deliberation. Thus, the movements that have emerged in Europe — on both the left and the right — have focused on strengthening their respective individual leaders, rather than empowering their rank-and-file members, even when they emphasize participatory democracy.
In the case of Macron and Kurz, each leader has tapped into the sense of dynamism and purpose that is usually a key feature of single-issue movement politics.
Kurz, for his part, has bent the entire OVP to his will. In addition to giving it a new name, he has reorganized its internal structures and changed its official color from black to turquoise.
Still, the party’s conservative platform has hardly changed at all, suggesting that Kurz’s moves are about marketing and asserting his personal authority more than anything else.
In the end, Podemos, La Republique En Marche and Momentum, the youth movement that helped Jeremy Corbyn reshape the Labour Party’s platform in the UK, are not important, because they are movements per se.
Rather, they are important because they provide more political choices for citizens, especially those frustrated with prevailing duopolies — political systems dominated by two long-established parties offering nearly identical policy prescriptions.
In Corbyn’s case, movement politics could re-establish Labour’s progressive credentials and reverse what many saw as an embrace of neoliberal policies under former British prime minister Tony Blair, but it would be naive to think that movements alone will make European politics more democratic.
If anything, they could operate even less democratically than traditional parties, owing to their strong plebiscitary forms of leadership.
Jan-Werner Mueller is a professor of politics at Princeton University.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
As former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrapped up his visit to the People’s Republic of China, he received his share of attention. Certainly, the trip must be seen within the full context of Ma’s life, that is, his eight-year presidency, the Sunflower movement and his failed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, as well as his eight years as Taipei mayor with its posturing, accusations of money laundering, and ups and downs. Through all that, basic questions stand out: “What drives Ma? What is his end game?” Having observed and commented on Ma for decades, it is all ironically reminiscent of former US president Harry