The next elections of 2022

François Valentin | Issue 6 | Magazine, Politics

From the Archive

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - OCTOBER 02: A demonstrator wears a headband in support of Lula during a protest against Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro at Paulista avenue on October 02, 2021 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Demonstrations against President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro take place today in hundreds of cities as Bolsonaro faces a probe over his response to the pandemic. Among the demonstrators demands, they include impeachment for Bolsonaro, increase of emergency economic aid, end of violence against black and indigenous population. (Photo by Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images)
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - OCTOBER 02: A demonstrator wears a headband in support of Lula during a protest against Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro at Paulista avenue on October 02, 2021 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Demonstrations against President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro take place today in hundreds of cities as Bolsonaro faces a probe over his response to the pandemic. Among the demonstrators demands, they include impeachment for Bolsonaro, increase of emergency economic aid, end of violence against black and indigenous population. (Photo by Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images)

Important elections are happening around the globe and whilst ideological politics may be dying, polarisation is not

Long before becoming a question of warring ideologies, of left and right, and of capitalism versus socialism, politics at its heart was about patrons and clients: rival camps vying for power to protect their interests. This politics of Ancient Rome remains the quintessential incarnation of that patronage aspect of politics, where personal networks and ambitions trump the ideological differences between the optimates and the populares. The emergence of mass democracy somewhat overshadowed this core feature of politics, especially in western democracies. The emergence of socialism in the 19th century and the formation of political parties (that dwarfed the small elitist “clubs” of old mass media) all contributed to the perception of politics not only as a battle for positions, but also as a bat-tle of ideas. Yet this transformation from clientelist politics to ideological politics was not always suc-cessful. Many emerging democracies divided among ethnic or religious lines struggle to bu...

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