Moral crusades substitute for absent left-right political demarcation.

Evidence

Clearly the problem is not limited to the United States. A look at other countries where, because of different traditions, the sexual card cannot be played in the same way as in the Anglo- American world shows that the crusade against corruption and shabby deals can play a similar role in replacing the missing political line of demarcation between adversaries. In other circumstances yet. the political frontier might be drawn around religious identities or around non-negotiable moral values, as in the case of abortion, but in all cases what this reveals is a democratic deficit created by the blurring of the left/right divide and the trivialization of the political discourse. — Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox, 509

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to her core ‘adversary not enemy’ desideratum and to the book’s own anti-essentialist pluralism of The Return of the Political. — connects to: Erasure of left-right distinction harms rather than advances democracy — Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox, 46; Crusading moral idealism, denied other outlets, turned inward against external change — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 1782; Moral justifications can substitute for discredited rationales to sustain support for war — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2317 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Erasure of left-right distinction harms rather than advances democracy #corroborates (0.82) — Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox, 46
• Wellness ideals supply the toxic compound that dissolves left-right political boundaries #corroborates (0.80) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 552
• Crusading moral idealism, denied other outlets, turned inward against external change #expands (0.78) — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 1782
• Moral commitment to sacred values leverages movements lacking material means against stronger opposition. #qualifies (0.74) — Scott Atran, The Devoted Actor, 46
• Moral justifications can substitute for discredited rationales to sustain support for war #expands (0.72) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2317