Anti-political attitudes have grown in scope and intensity since the mid-1900s

Evidence

In a careful study of politics published after Brexit, academics Nick Clarke, Will Jennings, Jonathan Moss, and Gerry Stoker found that anti-political attitudes had increased both in scope and intensity since the middle of the twentieth century. While people theoretically support “informal politics”—participating in civil society campaigns, volunteering, etc.—as an alternative to formal politics, they don’t actually do much of it. What is left is a distaste for politics in general and especially for the highly visible figure of the politician. In recent years, it has been trivially easy to find people saying that “all politicians are the same,” and then quickly follow up with the contradictory statement that “they need to stop fighting and get things done.” Though the four researchers focused primarily on British politics, this was the same attitude you might hear in a São Paulo taxicab. Another incredibly common opinion, they found, is that politicians are a joke. They’re all clowns, and clowns would make better politicians. — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn, 597

Categorization

• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: The meaning of ‘representation’ shifted from delegation to identity presence in media — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and…, 619; Anti-political sentiment has grown more complete and virulent over time — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and…, 596; Increasing theoretical radicalism coincided with growing political pessimism — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 772

Broader Connections

• Anti-political sentiment has grown more complete and virulent over time #corroborates (0.95) — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn, 596
• Increasing theoretical radicalism coincided with growing political pessimism #expands (0.72) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 772