Democracy and Its Discontents

How should one make sense of the malaise that currently sours public opinion in the countries of Europe, in Japan and North Amer ica? It reveals itself most saliently in tremendous electoral volatility as political parties are deserted for new formations and leaders. Con sider the disintegration of Japan's Liberal Democrats; the obliteration of Canada's Progressive Conservatives; the populist appeal of Ross Perot; the attrition of the mainstream German parties for Greens on the left and x?nophobes on the right; the willingness of voters in Poland and former East Bloc countries to vote for recycled commu nists; the Zhirinovsky phenomenon in Russia. Most recently Italian voters turned sharply toward the unconventional electoral formations of the Italian Freedom Alliance: the refurbished neo-fascists, the plebiscitary fan clubs of television magnate Silvio Berlusconi, and the pugnacious regionalists of the Northern Leagues. Elections provide only the most spectacular index of public impa tience. Political leaders have found it difficult to follow through on laboriously negotiated national pledges such as Meech Lake, Maas tricht or the North American Free Trade Agreement. Great break throughs become mired in complexity: How many outside Brussels still retain the 1992 vision of the European Community as a trans forming venture? And social cohesion apparently frays at a level even