{"product_id":"ruling-the-voidisbn-9781781680995","title":"Ruling The Void","description":"In the long-established democracies of Western Europe, electoral turnouts are in decline, membership is shrinking in the major parties, and those who remain loyal partisans are sapped of enthusiasm. Peter Mair’s new book weighs the impact of these changes, which together show that, after a century of democratic aspiration, electorates are deserting the political arena. Mair examines the alarming parallel development that has seen Europe’s political elites remodel themselves as a homogeneous professional class, withdrawing into state institutions that offer relative stability in a world of fickle voters. Meanwhile, non-democratic agencies and practices proliferate and gain credibility—not least among them the European Union itself, an organization contributing to the depoliticization of the member states and one whose notorious ‘democratic deficit’ reflects the deliberate intentions of its founders.\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRuling the Void \u003c\/i\u003eoffers an authoritative and chilling assessment of the prospects for popular political representation today, not only in the varied democracies of Europe but throughout the developed world. ‘Peter Mair was one of the leading scholars in the area of comparative politics. He was especially noted for his path-breaking work on change in both political party organizations and party systems … and his insights into the intersections of politics and society were always worth hearing and reading.’\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eALAN WARE, Professor of Politics at Oxford University and author of \u003ci\u003eThe American Direct Primary\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ‘Peter Mair was one of the true greats of European political science, and one of the leading lights in the field of comparative politics. This was the most brilliant of minds and the most prolific of scholars.’\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eDAVID FARRELL, President of the Political Studies Association of Ireland and author of \u003ci\u003eElectoral Systems\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ePeter Mair\u003c\/b\u003e (1951–2011) was one of the leading political scientists of his generation. He studied at University College Dublin and the University of Leiden, and worked at universities in Ireland, the U.K., the Netherlands and Italy, finally becoming Professor of Comparative Politics at the European University Institute, Florence. His books include \u003ci\u003eParty System Change\u003c\/i\u003e and, with Stefano Bartolini, \u003ci\u003eIdentity, Competition and Electoral Availability\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"Verso","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303002722533,"sku":"NP9781781680995","price":95.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781781680995_50d08a6b-dad1-41cf-a75f-10ab7cbe441e.jpg?v=1730752705","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/ruling-the-voidisbn-9781781680995","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}