Anti-politics

Anti-politics tends to focus on negative assessments of politicians and political elites by civic organisations, the media and citizens, whereas political apathy may involve disaffection with other elements of a political system, such as the electoral system or party system. Since the 2000s, increasing dissatisfaction with democracy has been a theme of scholarship in both the Americas and Europe, with some political scientists describing high levels of political antipathy as a 'crisis' which risks democratic deconsolidation. Anti-politics has become a key concept in accounts of political dysfunction in liberal democracies, typically dissatisfaction with politics and mistrust of politicians.

Possible causes of anti-political sentiment include the processes associated with depoliticisation, especially an increase in technocratic forms of governance, as well as citizens' perceptions of incompetent governance and the poor performance of politicians. Political distrust can originate from, and increase support for, a range of different political ideologies, including both left-wing and right-wing positions and the extremes of these. Healthy levels of mistrust in politics are often seen as legitimate scepticism and considered beneficial for democratic functioning. High distrust can increase the divide between policy-makers (politicians, or the political establishment) and citizens, which provides opportunities for populist rhetoric. Anti-politics is often expressed through appeals to "the people" and is consequently linked with populism, particularly, but not exclusively, right-wing populism.

Conceptual history

The idea gained attention with the publication of The Anti-Politics Machine by anthropologist James Ferguson in 1990. Ferguson developed a thesis that rural development projects funded by the World Bank and the Canadian International Development Agency in Lesotho increased bureaucratic state power in the country and depoliticised both the state and poverty, causing them to become non-political issues. Ferguson consequently described development as an "anti-politics machine". Ferguson's model has been applied to other developing countries such as India; anti-politics has also been used to critique the shared administration of resources involving Indigenous peoples in Canada and North America.

In the first decade of the 2000s, scholars of human geography such as Andrew Barry drew a distinction between conventional "politics" (the practices and institutions of elections, political parties and governments) and the "political" (scenarios where dissent and debate are permitted), arguing that some forms of politics could be anti-political in that they denied the validity of alternatives. The substitution of public debate with market economics under neoliberalism, or by technocratic managerialism led by experts and scientists, or by the leadership of charismatic figures, are examples of this theory. Barry argued that whereas conventional politics revolved around the framing of issues, a greater focus on economic measurement was causing economics and politics to be conflated. In 2009, Erik Swyngedouw argued these processes had caused Western politics to become "post-political".

Negativity towards formal political institutions is a significant phenomenon in Europe, North America, Australasia and elsewhere. The trend originated in many democracies during the second half of the 20th century and it is generally accepted that a range of factors have contributed to increasing distrust in politics over this broad time frame. In Why We Hate Politics (2007), political scientist Colin Hay wrote that the label "political" had become associated in popular consciousness with negative connotations, such as corruption, greed, self-interest and inefficiency. Hay contrasted this with the positive ideals connected with "democracy". He also analysed a link between anti-political sentiment and political disengagement, including declines in voter turnout, lower membership of political parties and more informal forms of political participation.