Imperfect Democracies: The Rise of Popular Protest and Democratic Dissent

This book re-examines what democracy is, in the context of democratic disenchantment and surge of support for populist parties, in most, if not all, democratic systems. It argues that these popular protests and claims are not by themselves anti-democratic but they are manifestations of a fundamental misunderstanding about what democracy is and can be. The starting point is to underline that all democracies are the result of an historical 'bricolage' where many heterogeneous components have been included over time and space, becoming part and parcel of what constitutes a democratic system, even when these foreign elements are literally anti-democratic, in the proper sense of the term. Liberalism is at stake.

Many political systems are deemed un-democratic as they tend to become illiberal, forgetting that reforms inspired by liberalism were often directed at limiting, repressing and forbidding the full expression of the will of the people.

Today, democracies are, for the most part, characterized not only by periodic crises and the fall of representative institutions (i.e. political parties) but also by the growing expropriation of the 'political' by non-political institutions. Governance has replaced governments; elections do not matter, or at least, it seems that a growing number of citizens feel apathetic and resent the political process. Populism is a radical by-product of a popular rage which has not found the appropriate channels to convey its messages and aspirations for change.

Yves Mény has been President of the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. He is a graduate in Law and obtained his PhD in Political Science in 1973. His career has taken him worldwide and he has been a Visiting Professor at many universities including New York, Seattle, Mexico, Paris, Madrid, Rome and Bologna. In 1993 he was appointed Director of the newly-founded interdisciplinary Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence Professor Mény has been a member of numerous editorial committees, including Journal of Common Market Studies, South European Society and Politics and of the Journal of Public Policy, Stato e Mercato, and Administration and Society. He sits on many research committees, including the Review Panel for the Swiss National Science Foundation. He is a member of the Bureau of Political Advisers, set up by the President of the European Commission. He was Chairman of Expert Group on Foundations and Research and Development, European Commission and in 2000-2003 he was Chairman of the Executive Committee of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR). In 1999-2001 he was a member of the Conseil National d'Evaluation des Politiques Publiques and has served on the Piano Strutturale Board of Florence, a guiding committee for the structure and development of the city. His main areas of expertise are comparative politics, public policy, European Union affairs, and political and administrative institutions.

PhD student at Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli University