Politics without stories: The liberal predicament

David Ricci*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Book/ReportBookpeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Liberal candidates, scholars, and activists mainly promote pragmatism rather than large and powerful narratives - which may be called ‘alpha stories’ for their commanding presence over time. Alternatively, conservative counterparts to such liberals tend to promote their policy preferences in alpha stories praising effective markets, excellent traditions, and limited government. In this face-off, liberals represent a post-Enlightenment world where many modern people, following Max Weber, are ‘disenchanted’, while many conservatives, echoing Edmund Burke, cherish stories borrowed from the past. Politics without Stories describes this storytelling gap as an electoral disadvantage for liberals because their campaigning lacks, and will continue to lack, the inspiration and shared commitments that great, long-term stories can provide. Therefore, Ricci argues that, for tactical purposes, liberals should concede their post-Enlightenment skepticism and rally around short-term stories designed to frame, in political campaigns, immediate situations which they regard as intolerable. These may help liberals win elections and influence the course of modern life.

Original languageEnglish
PublisherCambridge University Press
Number of pages243
ISBN (Electronic)9781316756867
ISBN (Print)9781107170841
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© David Ricci 2016.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Politics without stories: The liberal predicament'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this