D IAGRAMA DE FLUJO DE CAJA

Given extensive interest in the complex nature of contemporary society, and the desire that abstract ideas find form in real world political outcomes, it is not surprising that the many of the authors reviewed discuss these aspects of the political narrative.

Within the literature Hay (2007), Harvey (2007a, 2007b), Stoker (2006), Sennett (2006), Held (2006), Dalton (2004), Grey (2004, 2002), Bourdieu (1998), all acknowledge the increased complexity of society's political life, and the difficulties associated with the delivery of real political outcomes. Quill (2006:65) describes the 'deep ambiguity of the present political condition both for liberalism and citizens of liberal democratic states'.

While often taken for granted relatively few, Hayek (1982, 1988, [1944] 1991, 2005, [1960] 2006) being a notable exception of interest to this thesis, explore the nature of this complexity, as distinct from the literal assumption of complexity.

47

Complexity, or as Hayek (1988:146) characterised it ‘the twin concepts of the formation of spontaneous orders and selective evolution’, is central to Hayek’s later understanding of societal organisation. Others such as Beinhocker (2007) deal with complexity from an economics perspective, developing its association with more rational approaches. Room (2008) discusses complexity approaches to social policy research, while Cillers (1998) discusses complexity and complex systems in a post-modern context. Cillers (1998) focuses on the indescribable aspects of complex social systems centring on post-modernism's sensitivity towards complex phenomena, rather than more holistically integrative policy analysis approach advocated by Room (2008).

This may be a result of the compartmentalisation of debate within academic endeavour as much as any specific rationalist agenda.

Hayek on the other hand, pre-dating those discussed above, does not address specifically complex theory and complex adaptive systems, however his interests do develop from the notion of spontaneous order towards complex systems over the course of his life's work (Caldwell 2004:361). For Hayek, contemporary research into the creation from the bottom up of collective structures based on individual needs would not be a surprise. Of course the spontaneous nature of these structures, and their emergence repudiated any notions that the planners, constructional rationalists, might have for reorganising society along planned lines.

By including this type of analysis Hayek through the study of complexity and its relevance to political science connects ideas focussing on the problem of affecting, or changing the relevancy of politics, where over idealised or fanciful notions of what politics ought to be capable of achieving for society, are juxtaposed against the frustrations of politics as an explainer of how things are. While the pursuit of an ideal and knowledge is noble, it is no nobler than a concern for the redesign of politics that focuses on the delivery of political outcomes (Parsons 2005).

Neoliberalism exploits this concern for the redesign of politics, focusing on the impact of ideas on political action, and consequently their effect on political policy formation. This primarily has been seen in the shift in political emphasis away from a liberalism that focussed on big issues towards a narrower neoliberal approach focussed on the individual.

Freeden (2005:1) discusses this shift in terms of 'overpowering ideas', that cannot be avoided, and using the 'takeover of liberalism by some libertarian doctrines' (Freeden

48

2005:2) as an example, he points to the use of the concept of freedom for the individual as looming so large that there is little other space for alternative values or broader interpretations. This ideological constraint is for Freeden (2005:1) lacking in an appreciation of the complexity and multidimensionality of ideological phenomenon.

Neoliberalism at one level serves as an example of the simplification of ideas, while at another emphasises individual managerial issues at the expense of broader 'basic values, concepts or arguments' (Freeden 2005:1).

Practically this shift, or moment of transcendence in sociological terms, occurred at a significant historical juncture, where using an astrological metaphor, the forces of free market economics, liberal thought, rational choice and public choice theories aligned, while the forces of the political counter ideology collapsed to give rise to a new format for liberalism, known broadly today as neoliberalism.

The emergence of neoliberal styled policy concepts was for advocates of real world outcomes such as Charles Peters (1983) the inevitable consequence of the collapse of the post Second World War order, social democracy and Keynesian styled economic doctrine. While reports of the death of social democracy might have been exaggerated and simplistic, particularly in European countries such as Sweden (Andersson 2006, Belfrage and Ryner 2009), Denmark (Mjoset in Delanty ed. 2006), and France (Béland 2005), the attractiveness of neoliberalism’s appeal to entrepreneurial initiative promised the end of traditional class based politics and state orientated constriction.

At an elementary or foundational level neoliberal ideas, their lack of sophistication and their 'popular, marketable content' (Freeden 2005:5) made for real world outcomes that resonated within popular culture. Hayek's (1988) more sophisticated advocacy of individual liberty, and his criticism of rational constructivism added intellectual credibility to the profession of real world outcomes.

Returning to the idea of class destruction and restoration, this question too is not straightforward. Rather than redefining class the Neoliberalization effect was more complicated, involving a restoration of class but not along traditional lines. This occurred as an emergent effect which Harvey (2007a:33) argues neoliberalism facilitated through the merging of the historically separate functions of ownership and management in large corporations, and the increased 'financialization of everything'. The emergence of a new class of speculator was outside the traditional borders of the nation state, and was transnational in outlook and reach. For those within this emergent class

49

neoliberalism 'confers rights and freedoms on those whose income, leisure, and security need no enhancing' (Harvey 2007a:38).

At the general level there remained a 'deep ambiguity of the present political condition both for liberalism and citizens of liberal democratic states' (Quill 2006:1), following the cleavages within society as neoliberalism asserted its hegemony (Sennett 2006). These cleavages are symptomatic in Held's (2006) opinion of an increased questioning of the role and nature of the nation state, and its ability to deliver political outcomes within an increasingly complex and globalised neoliberal environment.

The broad ramifications of globalisation or regionalisation depending on opinion are attributed as being the most limiting factor on the ability of politics in its current form to effect real change in society. At the ideological level Quill (2006) contends that the changing context within liberalism has left it overextended, without the closed institutional spaces that historically defined its outlook, and insulated it from subversion.

For Quill (2006) the space once guarded by the nation state has been replaced by an open public realm increasing independent of borders and boundaries.

Despite this increasingly independent open public realm, the changing context is characterised as the loss of a sense of the public realm, as a genuinely public sphere.

Public sphere in this instance is defined, following Habermas (1989 in Goodin and Pettit ed. 1997:105) as 'a domain of our social life in which such a thing as public opinion can be formed'. Its occupation by citizens curtailed by a growing feeling of isolation and distance (Pusey 2003), within increasingly 'unstable, fragmentary social conditions' (Sennett 2006:3). The loss in this case is almost romantically akin to a loss of innocence and idealism, and reflects the disconnected nature of citizen interaction with liberal thought and policy. This demonstrates the real world incoherence between a more independent public realm, and a loss of a sense of the public realm. Indeed the discussion of complexity in this instance arises from the 'legacy of positivist images of the power of objective and disembodied science and the progressive notion that science could be used to re-engineer society along more rational lines' (Caldwell 2004:368), and the disconnection that has resulted.

The guilt associated with this loss of connection, for most of the literature reviewed lies firmly within the economic sphere (Bauman (2007a, 2007b), Sennett (2006), Frieden (2006), Saad-Filho and Johnson (2005)). It is rationalist economic theoretical perspectives, and their effect on the delivery of political outcomes, that has had the

50

greatest impact in terms of political action and public policy within contemporary politics, stripping away the 'protected covering that embedded liberalism allowed' (Harvey 2007a:168). Given the complexity associated with these changes, they largely ignored the economic end-state, particularly for matters that might require a medium or long term perspective, and replaced them with a series of short term goals seeking to glamorise immediate outcomes. This served only to undermine authority and stability, and lead to the erosion of political authority further. For Bauman (2007a, 2007b) and Sennett (2006) this is manifested by instantaneous gratification through consumerism, and a rejection of the potential of delayed gratification. For Held (2006:25) this change is manifested behaviourally as 'insolence' replacing 'good breeding', 'extravagance' replacing 'generosity', and 'shamelessness' replacing 'courage'.

Borrowing from the physical sciences this glamorous short term perspective can be closely associated with the notion of 'positive feedback', 'an accelerating, amplifying, self-reinforcing cycle' (Beinhocker 2006:57). This cycle requires eventual dampening down by intervention from some robust entity. Beinhocker (2006) in his perspective highlights that positive in this sense need not always mean good in terms of its result, the outcomes of positive feedback can be bad, and often are within the complex machinations of an increasingly globalised world.

One need only think of the 2008 financial crisis as an example of positive feedback requiring dampening down. Formerly the state was envisaged as fulfilling this role through policy intervention. Today, as a result of neoliberal hegemony, and public choice theory manifested as new public management, the movement away from statist intervention in the late twentieth century, and early twenty first appears to have been premature rendering the public sector 'dangerously fragile' (Parsons 2005:7). Indeed the shell shocked response by nation states to the continuing 2008 financial crisis serves to illustrate the drift away from proactive statist intervention, disregarding the complexity of the situation, and the dangers associated with mono-theoretical approaches.

Developing outside of traditional notions of the public realm the effects of an increasingly complex political life has heralded the growth of alternative political arenas such as non-conventional direct action political movements. These movements use alternative methods and means to engage contemporary political issues complicating and often bypassing the traditional political sphere.

51

Within this complexity the delivery of tangible outcomes that resonate with modern political consumers becomes ever more difficult (Hay 2007). The limited foresight of political actors coupled with the short term view taken regarding political outcomes leads to unrealistic assumptions initially, and creates a level of expectation that is overly optimistic and in many respects unsustainable in the longer run (Layard 2005). The influence of neoliberal economic thought in this regard provides the primary example.¹⁰

Critics of perfect rationality such as Beinhocker (2006) point to this in a scathing criticism of the assumptions of perfect rationality, and other economic led presumptions that disregard the whimsical nature of human decision making. Coupled to this the incomplete and imperfect nature of the information available to people making decisions adds to the legitimacy of this critique. Beinhocker (2006) using the computer programming analogy, examines the role of information, and points to the fact that garbage in = garbage out, bad inputs get bad outputs. Using the scientific conception of dynamics in politics, he posits that if one assumes that politics is characteristically non-linear, then, it can be assumed that the large amounts of interactions within the 'political public sphere' (Habermas 1989 in Goodin and Pettit ed. 1997:105) creates massive complexity in terms of the calculation of outcomes and effects.

This complexity coupled with the increasingly sceptical judgement of the public regarding the motivation of political actors, where their 'political motives are invariably questioned' (Hay 2004:43), has the effect of diminishing political outcomes. The origin of the public scepticism for Hay (2006:125) lies in an 'unduly pessimistic' public choice theory and a rational choice movement whose 'analytical assumptions are incapable of capturing the complexity and contingency of political systems' (Hay 2004:39).

The complexity of the political world and the difficulties associated with the delivery of political outcomes are exasperated within a societal environment where contemporary populism tends to dumb down debate on political issues (Habermas 1989, 2006). Hayek (1988) characterises this as an obsession with newness or news rather than truth. This

10 When discussing the economic aspects of Neoliberalization it should be noted that the terms neoliberal and liberal are interchangeable. The use of the term liberal in its economic meaning falls from the understanding of markets along neo-classical lines, an aspect of a more broad conception of

neoliberalism.

52

contemporary populism far from Marxist notions of elite replacement, operates in an environment that lacks the institutional means to control elites, appealing more to the 'antagonistic spirit' (Mc Cormick 2003:638) of popular media culture. For Ackerman &

Fishkin (2003:8) this affect is emphasised in the 'public dialogue that is ever more efficiently segmented in its audiences and morselized in its sound bites'.

The emergence of this contemporary form of populism coincides with the rise in consumerism generally, and shares its primary characteristic, the desire to be satiated.

Characterised as political consumers, citizen activism has been described by Stoker (2006:88) as 'a sophisticated form of consumerism'. The crude preoccupation with individual interest within political consumerism contrasts starkly with Mill’s 'Consideration of Representative Government' where he romantically posits that 'one person with a belief is a social power equal to ninety nine who only have interests' (Mill [1975]1998ed:214).

Returning to the real world it would appear that the 'ninety nine' with 'interests' have become more active in their desire to expand and protect those interests through populist channels (Mill [1975]1998ed:214). This negative manifestation of change within citizen activism may be reflective of a more pessimistic political culture generally as many within the literature argue (Caldwell 2006, Stoker 2006, Grey, 2002 and 2004) etc.

Practically then, this pessimism is seen by Stoker (2006:132) as the 'demonizing of opponents, and the political environment', and the 'use and danger of accusation' (Stoker 2006:13) rather than any deep examination of complex issues or arguments. For Stoker (2006:132) the 'politics of blame and simplistic solutions' captures the essence of contemporary populism. Tragically the potential of this restricted form of activism, to re-engage and mobilise otherwise preoccupied or disre-engaged individuals is overshadowed by its negatively reactive quality.

In reaching out to the mainstream Hay (2007), Stokes (2006), Sennett (2006), Held (2006), Dalton (2004), and Grey (2002, 2004) share a recognition that the political cannot be isolated from the realities of broader society, and that politics must in order to remain relevant stay connected to the wider world. Liberalism’s role as a personal philosophy is critiqued as the only way of reversing the continued emergence of social Darwinism in an age where the inequalities in society have widened.

The globalisation phenomenon is yet another part of the complexity associated with understanding real world outcomes. While appreciating the benefits accruing as part of

53

the globalization process, its part in perpetuating growing inequality and social divergence parallels its beneficial aspects. For Grey (2002:57) globalisation's expansion reflects pessimistically the idea of 'delocalisation', that is the uprooting of activities and relationships from local origins and cultures.

Globalisation, whether discussed solely in political economy terms or political terms only, rather than facilitating an upgrade of the scale and quality of local activities, has in many cases seen them diminish or vanish with consequences for wider society.

For Beinhocker (2006) the relevancy of politics in society returns to the simple yet instructive maxim that calls for politics to concern itself more with the allocation of the economic pie rather than its creation, or the facility for its perpetuation. This simplistic evocation although seductive is not without problems. It fails to recognise the complexity of ethical and moral issues within the contemporary literature which have traditionally been of concern to citizens and political thinkers alike (Grey 2002). It blatantly fails to address the real world issues around the divorce of power and authority, and the loss of Sennett's (2006:151) 'shared imagination'. Its short term focus on allocation rather than perpetuation of advantageous economic circumstances was unashamedly exposed during the 2008 financial crash.

More correctly politics needs to be reoriented towards the development of a coherent strategy for the achievement of a future state, rather than the continuation of present state, with its defence of particular interests within society.

THE CHANGE IN FOCUS WITHIN CONTEMPORARY POLITICS