{"product_id":"why-politics-fails","title":"Ben Ansell: Why Politics Fails [2023] paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhy do the revolving doors of power always leave us disappointed? In \u003ci\u003eWhy Politics Fails\u003c\/i\u003e, 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'.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDemocracy: we all want a say in how we're governed, but it's impossible to have any true 'will of the people'. Equality: we want to be treated equally, but equal rights and equal outcomes undermine each other. Solidarity: we want a safety net when times are tough, but often we care about solidarity only when we need it ourselves. Security: we want protecting from harm, but not if it undermines our freedoms. Prosperity: we want to be richer tomorrow, but what makes us richer in the short run makes us poorer over the long haul.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou'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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ansell, Ben","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":44499166495010,"sku":"9780241517635","price":19.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0616\/4001\/6057\/files\/ansell-ben-ben-ansell-why-politics-fails-2023-paperback-9780241517635-60201561162067.jpg?v=1732681744","url":"https:\/\/theirishbookshop.live\/products\/why-politics-fails","provider":"Chapters Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}