Centenary of women's political rights in Finland
New Politics: Challenging national representational democracy?
Villiina Hellsten
The decline of class-based voting has become a typical but also a problematic feature of the political systems of Western democracies. When issues falling beyond the traditional left-right division have become more important and the ability of conventional parties to respond to new challenges has weakened, supporting one and the same party has become open to doubt. The increased party-political mobility of the electorate has been a convenient breeding ground for new extremist parties. In addition, decreased voting has meant that political participation has been channelled outside representational mechanisms.
Confusion has been created for example by the rise of eco-anarchism and other radical political participation since the early 1990s. Demonstrations escalating into violence at the summits of international organisations or protests of animal rights activists against fur production with the intention of damaging property – together with ever-decreasing electoral activity figures – have raised discussion about what political participation means in the 21st century.
Postindustrial social development: The structural basis of old politics breaks down
This conflictual set-up in new politics can be traced back to postindustrial social development, which has brought about technological and economic development, change in social structures and modes of production as well as increased prosperity. Whereas industrial society was based on the class division between workers and capitalists and its main political conflicts could be solved with the help of political parties and institutionalised interest groups, the traditional class structure of postindustrial society is breaking down and thus losing its significance in political mobilisation (e.g. Smith 1990; Hall & Jacques 1990; Kaase 1990). Vast growth in the amount of knowledge and education has also shaken traditional social structures of postindustrial society: the significance of conventional institutions supporting socialisation diminishes as the cognitive capacities of people develop. Conventional group relations have also been dissolved by social and geographical mobility and the individualisation of society associated with urbanisation (Inglehart 1990; Dalton et al. 1984; Melucci 1989).
As conventional social classes have begun to disintegrate, new political delineations have emerged in addition to the conflictual dimension between workers and capitalists. These new conflict settings breaking up the worker-bourgeoisie divide are shaped more and more around professional skills (routine vs. specialist tasks), intellectual capacities (the cognitively mobilised vs. intellectually challenged) and value and lifestyle conflicts (moral distinction, good taste, manners, consumption patterns) (Kriesi 1989, Eder 1993). Along with these social changes, there have been changes in views on what are considered central political issues and demands, how citizens’ views should influence decision-making and who can participate in public policy-making and how.
New politics and new forms and arenas of political participation
Forms of political participation will diversify in the framework of new politics. As postmodern political conflicts do not easily fit on the agendas of extant political institutions and are not reconciled through traditional forms of participation, citizens organise more and more outside conventional political parties. They also resort to unusual forms of political participation, such as petitions, demonstrations, boycotts, squatting, illegal strikes, disrupting traffic and even damaging property. The development of cognitive skills is thought to be the reason for forms of participation becoming more unconventional; this leads to political action that begins to challenge and direct the authorities instead of political action that is based on following authority (Inglehart 1990, 359-362, 372).
Resorting to unconventional forms of participation can be thought to result from the fact that many problems of postindustrial and postmodern society – such as the risk of an environmental catastrophe – threaten the very existence of life on earth. Thus breaking the “rules” is considered legitimate and justified (Offe 1985, 853).
In the new politics of postmodernity, concerns and discontent that previously culminated in collective action are not necessarily directed towards the state system, but become part of self-reflexive identity building. This is called “do it yourself” politics, which is thought to be especially characteristic of the postmodern age and its political actors (cf. Bauman 1992). “Do it yourself” politics means that, as diversity and relativism increase and universal rules lose their significance, the inevitability of individual responsibility and individual choice intensifies. Every action of the postmodern actor becomes a moral and responsible personal choice. The growing significance of the cultivation of the body – manifested as a “healthy lifestyle”, like veganism – is an example of this kind of choice-based identity building. The body also represents both continuity and unity in the state of constant change and fragmentation. In addition, it represents privacy that is being protected from the threat posed by uncontrollability (Sweetman 2000; Giddens 1991; Melucci 1989, 113-116, 123-124). The politisation of recent food scandals reflects in its own part such an attempt by the individual to symbolically control the changes happening in her or his environment through the control of the body.
The intertwinement of the personal and the political is seen especially in the marketplace as more and more citizens convey their political preferences through purchase and consumption. The market and the rise of individualism are often spoken of as competitors to politics. However, they do not threaten “politics” as such: the market has rather taken over space from party politics and other organisation-based political involvement. Individualism is in conflict with the collective truths and hierarchical structures represented by party politics, but the rise of individualism does not mean the end of politics, rather a change in its significance: at the same time the personal has become political, the role of the market as the means of conveying political messages has become enhanced.
Politics through consumption seems to be connected to the rise of the fast-paced postindustrial information society (see e.g. Featherstone 1995, 73). In a fast-paced information environment like this, where action takes place here and now and results are expected immediately, voting can be considered an ineffective medium, whose effects can be felt only in the distant future. Resorting to unconventional and extra-parliamentarian – even unlawful – action is seen as justified in, for example, environmental issues.
New Politics: A challenge to national representational democracy?
The challenge posed by new politics to the existing power structure is not communicated only as electoral inactivity, but different alternative forms of political activity in themselves aim to question the values of the power structure. Although even new forms of political activity can be regarded as instrumental in the way that they are used to attain political goals, in themselves they can be considered a message directed to the rest of society which questions existing values, practices, meanings and interpretations (cf. Melucci 1989, 74-77).
The opposite side in the arrangement can be a physical person or an institution, but also a way of speaking or governance constructed through language (see Sassi 2000, 79; Melucci 1996, 8-9). In a situation like this, the actor might often identify her-/himself with some kind of a transnational community instead of a nation-state and its representational political system (cf. Beck 1999; Featherstone 1995, 114). Global communities like this are often abstract, conceptual communities or neo-tribes that base their existence on the symbolic adherence of their members. The belief in their existence and a strong affective commitment are what keep them together (Maffesoli 1995; Bauman 1992, xvii-xx, 136-137). For example, politics are taking place more and more on mailing lists on the Internet which can be regarded as global political forums of their own kind, where post-national political identities are constructed and connected to each other.
The emergence of transnational identities is multifaceted but is linked to the development of globalisation. The emergence of a universal communication community has weakened the significance of different national symbols and mechanisms in identity-building and has also reinforced the idea that political decisions are not legitimate if their transnational implications are not taken into account (Linklater 1998; also Featherstone 1995). Identifying oneself with global communities like this – environmentalist movements, for instance – can also mean extending political, especially extra-parliamentarian action over national boundaries. Environmental organisations, for instance, mobilise participants for demonstrations from neighbouring countries as well, often through email lists. The political participation of these actors can be thought to mean a certain kind of change in the political paradigm. When demonstrators or those taking part in unlawful activities are not just of different nationalities but often young people not able to vote, the new paradigm can be seen to contradict not just how citizen’s views should influence decision-making but also who should be regarded as politically competent citizens.
The challenge posed by new politics to representational democracy seems to be first and foremost symbolic: with their existence and operational logic, many new movements create not just new forms of interaction but alternative interpretations of the world and its meanings as well, and are thus messages in themselves. To political decision-makers this challenge is concretised as the question of how to integrate messages coming from outside party-centred politics into representational decision-making. At a time when it is evident from statistics and decreasing electoral activity that representational democracy is not adequate in conveying messages from its citizens to the decision-making process, these citizens cannot be ignored
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