The End of Politics and the Rise of the Radical Right

In: Dissent: a journal devoted to radical ideas and the values of socialism and democracy, Band 42, S. 498-502

Abstract

The death of conventional politics is examined. Contemporary political analysts suggest that the disappearance of class identities & the end of the bipolar system of confrontation have made conventional politics obsolete. Consensus at the center is now the dominant political mechanism. However, the blurring of old antagonisms is more a matter of definition than actual disappearance of political conflict. New political antagonisms have emerged in the past few decades & exist in contemporary political life. Political parties have not yet articulated these antagonisms in ways that reach their constituents. Consensus is not a political panacea. Antagonism & dissent play crucial roles in democratic politics & should be encouraged & incorporated into an agonistic pluralism model of democracy. D. Generoli