The return of democratic passion. Inequality and national retreat in Europe, 2007-2020

Abstract

In the latest literature on the crisis of democracy, on the one hand, political and institutional perspectives prevail over social and cultural ones and, on the other hand, the analysis of actions versus that of structures. In this paper we reflect on the current situation, taking into account the relationship between the culture of democracy and the social bases that make it possible, making use of Tocqueville’s ideas on equal status and the role of emotions in political life, exploring its ambivalent manifestations and focusing on the effects that the Great Recession and the so-called refugee crisis have had on democratic societies. It closes with a note on the third successive crisis, still ongoing: the health crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.