Por qué fracasa la política

In this essay, Oxford professor Ben Ansell proposes the answer to the problems of political disaffection that Western societies suffer from, and in particular the distance that is established between the principles that we uphold and the political actions of those we elect. According to his thesis, the failure of politics lies in what he defines as the five main failures of the system, five examples of the increasing distance between what we say we desire as a society and what as citizens we are willing to offer. We long for equality, as long as it is not our wealth that is at stake; We advocate solidarity, but more when we receive it than when we give it; We demand more security, but not in exchange for our freedoms, and we want a prosperous economy, but what makes us richer in the short term, impoverishes us in the long term. The same pattern always repeats itself: our self-interest harms our ability to achieve collective goals.