Beyond Democracy

In 'Beyond Democracy' Luc Huyse analyses in a clearly structured exposé society to the core. Modern society has no segment left in which the market and market logic have not taken over. Privatizing public functions has stripped the state bit by bit. The dismantling of governmental control on the financial world opened the door for toxic products that caused economic and political crises, even elections have become highly mediatized auctions of attractively packed promises and figure heads. This evolution sneaked in without an open societal debate. In the opinion of Luc Huyse, that is how democracy silently and invisibly got damaged forever.

In the second part of the book, Luc Huyse is looking for a cure to heal this wounded democracy. He unmasks David Camerons Big Society and Mark Ruttes ‘participation society’ as ideological pep talk that hides an accelerated marketing of society. Instead he argues for a state that reconquers some domains from the market and market logic. Secondly, Huyse pleads for a participative democracy, supported by a renewed and a reinforced mid field.