Details

Subject(s)

• Merit (Ethics) [Browse]
• Merit (Ethics)—Political aspects [Browse]

Author

• Wille, A. C. (Anchrit C.) [Browse]

Summary note

Lay politics lies at the heart of democracy. Political offices are the only offices for which no formal qualifications are required. Contemporary political practices are diametrically opposed to this constitutional ideal. Most democracies in Western Europe are diploma democracies - ruled by those with the highest formal qualifications. Citizens with low or medium educational qualifications currently make up about 70 percent of the electorates, yet they have become virtually absent from almost all political arenas. University graduates have come to dominate all political institutions and venues, from political parties, parliaments and cabinets, to organised interests, deliberative settings, and Internet consultations. This rise of a political meritocracy is part of larger trend. In the information society, educational background, like class or religion, is an important source of social and political divides. Those who are well educated tend to be cosmopolitans, whereas the lesser educated citizens are more likely to be nationalists. This book documents the context, contours, and consequences of this rise of a political meritocracy. It explores the domination of higher educated citizens in political participation, civil society, and political office in Western Europe. It discusses the consequences of this rise of a political meritocracy, such as descriptive deficits, policy incongruences, biased standards, and cynicism and distrust. Also, it looks at ways to remedy, or at least mitigate, some of the negative effects of diploma democracy.-- Provided by Publisher.

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references (pages 194-220) and index.

Contents

• 1 Diploma Democracy 1
• The Rise of Political Meritocracy 1
• Plato's Dream Come True 3
• Diploma Democracy 4
• Exploring the Rise of Political Meritocracy 5
• Outline: Concepts, Contours, and Consequences of Diploma Democracy 7
• Part I Concepts and Contexts
• 2 Diplomas 11
• Meritocracy: From Science Fiction to Factual Description 11
• Meritocracy and Diplomas 12
• The Expansion of the Educational System 15
• The Educational Revolution as a Critical Juncture 18
• New Openings and Emerging Social Opportunities 19
• New Closures and Diminishing Returns 20
• The Rise of the Well-Educated in Society 23
• 3 Democracy 26
• Government by or for the People? 26
• Principal Elements of Democracy 27
• The Participatory Revolution 33
• New Openings and Emerging Political Opportunities 34
• New Closures and Diminishing Democratization 36
• The Rise of the Well-Educated in Democratic Politics 38
• 4 Education as a Cleavage 40
• An Educational Cleavage? 40
• Cleavage as a Social and Political Concept 42
• Social Differences: Educational Groups as Social Groups 45
• Attitudinal Differences: Cosmopolitans versus Nationalists 48
• Institutional Differences: Social-Liberal versus Nationalist Parties 52
• Different Stages of Cleavage Formation across Europe 56
• Cleavafe Formation and the Rise of Political Meritocracy 59
• Part II Contours
• 5 The Education Gap in Political Participation 65
• The Hamburger Bildungskampf 65
• The Participation Pyramid 66
• Education Gaps in Participation 67
• The Concentration of Activity 80
• Education: A Cause or a Proxy? 82
• The Paradox of the Participatory Revolution 86
• 6 The Meritocratization of Civil Society 91
• The Rise of the EU Nerds 91
• Civil Society Organizations 92
• The Context: An Associational Revolution 94
• Participation: The Education Gap in Membership 97
• Transformation: From Participation to Professionalization 103
• The Opening and Closing of Civil Society 108
• 7 Political Elites as Educational Elites 111
• Ed Miliband's Greatest Talent 111
• From Aristocracy to Meritocracy 112
• The Legislative Branch: Parliamentary U-Curves 113
• The Executive Branch: An Elitist Tradition 118
• The Emergence of a Political Meritocracy 121
• Explaining: The Supply and Demand of Higher Educated Political Candidates 130
• Two Faces of Political Meritocracy: Democratization and Professionalization 133
• Part III Concequences
• 8 The Consequences of Diploma Democracy 139
• Why Bother about Diploma Democracy? 139
• Representation: Descriptive Representation Matters 140
• Responsiveness: Biased Political Agendas 146
• Accountability: Biased Judgement 154
• Legitimacy: Distrust and Resentment 155
• The Tension between Meritocracy and Democracy 161
• 9 Remedying Diploma Democracy 164
• No to the Euro-Academics 164
• The Rise of Populist Parties: An Increasing Political Visibility of the Less Educated 166
• Spectator Politics: Edifying the Less Educated 168
• Participation: Adjusting the Arenas 170
• Bringing the Ballot Back In 173
• More Inclusive Political Elites 177
• A Wake-Up Call for Modern-Day Platonists 181.

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ISBN

• 9780198790631
• 0198790635

LCCN

2017931834

OCLC

968773464

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