debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
That the disease which brought the European Union into the intensive-care ward and has kept it there since, for quite a few years, is best diagnosed as a ‘democratic deficit’ is fast turning into a commonplace. Indeed, it is taken increasingly for granted and is hardly ever seriously questioned. Some observers and analysts ascribe the [...]
Of all the sins to which an American can succumb, the worst may be dependence on the state. Think back for a moment to the two biggest missteps in the 2012 presidential election: Mitt Romney’s dismissal of the “47 percent” of people “dependent on the government,” and President Obama’s “you didn’t build that,” intended to [...]
The recent publication of the critical edition of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan (edited by Noel Malcolm, 3 volumes, 1,832 pp., Clarendon Press) brings our attention to modernity and the actual role of the state (cf. David Runciman, “Where’s Hobbes?”, in TLS, 27th February). In the beginning there was a monster, Leviathan, a dark presence removed from the [...]
Before we delve into the reasons for the crisis of the state it is necessary to clarify the meaning of ‘nation’. Nation has a cultural connotation and its distant origins are historically much older than state: it is still recognisable as a nation even when its borders have not been marked out and, at least [...]
The history of economics is largely a struggle between two opposing schools of thought, “liberalism” and “mercantilism.” Economic liberalism, with its emphasis on private entrepreneurship and free markets, is today’s dominant doctrine. But its intellectual victory has blinded us to the great appeal – and frequent success – of mercantilist practices. In fact, mercantilism remains [...]
Palestine’s status has recently been upgraded to a non-member observer state in the United Nations (UN). The resolution of the General Assembly at the UN was passed with 138 votes in favour, 9 against, and 41 abstentions. Among the EU member states 14 voted for, 12 member states – including Germany and the United Kingdom [...]
One way to think about the future of the state is to analyze the situation for some of the largest states that exist, namely the state in the Nordic countries.[1] In the discussion about the future of the state, there are many misunderstandings of these states, even by sympathetic commentators. The most common one is [...]
Who needs the state? Interventions in the financial sector by governments during the crisis show that it is capitalism that needs the state in order to survive yet again. But the ones the state should serve first and foremost are the people: it should protect them from the excesses of the ‘invisible hand of the market’ and ensure [...]
Social democracy in Europe today is split regarding the role the state should play. Actually social democratic thinking has never been uniform about this question, and our positions have changed over time (including etatist, technological approaches as well as emancipative ideas of civil self-organisation). Concerning Europe we have participated in building our supranational structure with [...]
The state occupies a central place in social democratic thinking. It is the vehicle through which policies are delivered. Indeed, it is no coincidence that the growth of the modern state was a forerunner of the social democratic movement. Today, it is impossible to think about social democracy without considering the role of the state. But the relationship is not without [...]
As politicians debate public spending cuts, the matter of whether the State should continue to fund the Church in Poland has been raised. This issue is an extremely controversial one and brings in a number of wider issues, not least the fundamental question of whether there should exist an independent and secular State in Poland. [...]
Last week I blogged about how the euro-crisis poisoned the way we talk about each other in Europe and I argued that this starts getting dangerous. I am happy to see that this observation has found its way into the FAZ Feuilleton and that even the FAZ starts to get concerned about this, although the paper’s take on the [...]
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