Why Politics Fails: The Five Traps of the Modern World & How to Escape Them

Ansell, Ben

ISBN 10: 0241517621 / ISBN 13: 9780241517628

Published by Viking, 2023

About this Item

Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. A copy that has been read but remains in clean condition. All of the pages are intact and the cover is intact and the spine may show signs of wear. The book may have minor markings which are not specifically mentioned. Ex library copy with usual stamps & stickers.

Seller Inventory # rev2764019551

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Why Politics Fails: The Five Traps of the Modern World & How to Escape Them
• Publisher: Viking
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241517621
• ISBN 13: 9780241517628
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Good
• Weight: 560 grams

About this title

Synopsis

'Brilliant ... a must-read' Daron Acemoglu, co-author of Why Nations Fail_____Why do the revolving doors of power always leave us disappointed? In Why Politics Fails, award-winning Oxford professor Ben Ansell shows that it's not the politicians that are the problem, it's that our collective goals result in five political 'traps'. we all want a say in how we're governed, but it's impossible to have any true 'will of the people'. we want to be treated equally, but equal rights and equal outcomes undermine each other. we want a safety net when times are tough, but often we care about solidarity only when we need it ourselves. we want protecting from harm, but not if it undermines our freedoms. we want to be richer tomorrow, but what makes us richer in the short run makes us poorer over the long haul.You've probably noticed a pattern here, which is that our self-interest undermines our ability to deliver on our collective goals. And these traps reinforce one another, so a polarized democracy can worsen inequality; a threadbare social safety net can worsen crime; runaway climate change will threaten global peace.Drawing on examples from Ancient Greece through Brexit and using his own counterintuitive and pathbreaking research - on why democracy thrives under high inequality, and how increased political and social equality can lead to greater class inequality - Ansell vividly illustrates how we can escape the political traps of our imperfect world. He shows that politics won't end, but that it doesn't have to fail._____'A meticulous study of how different societies find it so difficult to achieve widely shared goals' Financial Times 'Incisive and gripping' Daniel Ziblatt, co-author of How Democracies Die'Salutary reading for the world we live in now' James A. Robinson, co-author of Why Nations Fail