World at Democratic Crossroads: Seeking Institutionalist Insights

The conventional view of democracy is that people vote to signal what they want, thereby selecting the policymakers they believe are most appropriate. Political disenchantment and fits of socio-political anger, however, clash with this view. The paper deals with this inconsistency by discussing the relation between policy and the polity. It begins by contending that neoliberalism generated not only dramatic economic and social consequences but also a general lack of confidence in the polity. Drawing on insights from Adolph Lowe, it argues that neoliberal policies have not only structured economies in a “pro-market” fashion. They have also led people to internalize the rules of the neoliberal game on the grounds that “There Is No Alternative”. Consequently, they created the consensus they needed to persist. On more theoretical grounds, policy is presented here not as a mere consequence of electoral conviction but as a means of persuasion. This suggests that policymakers are advantaged in shaping people’s views of the economy and of society. Policymakers, however, include not only governments but also intermediate agencies: charities and other organizations. There is scope for these agencies to pursue alternative goals and advance views of the world that differ from the status quo