Western Europe's Democratic Age, 1945-1968

by Professor Martin Conway

A major new history of how democracy became the dominant political force in Europe in the second half of the twentieth century

What happened in the years following World War II to create a democratic revolution in the western half of Europe? In Western Europe's Democratic Age, Martin Conway provides an innovative new account of how a stable, durable, and remarkably uniform model of parliamentary democracy emerged in Western Europe--and how this democratic ascendancy held fast until the latter decades of the twentieth century.

Drawing on a wide range of sources, Conway describes how Western Europe's postwar democratic order was built by elite, intellectual, and popular forces. Much more than the consequence of the defeat of fascism and the rejection of Communism, this democratic order rested on universal male and female suffrage, but also on new forms of state authority and new political forces--primarily Christian and social democratic--that espoused democratic values. Above all, it gained the support of the people, for whom democracy provided a new model of citizenship that reflected the aspirations of a more prosperous society.

This democratic order did not, however, endure. Its hierarchies of class, gender, and race, which initially gave it its strength, as well as the strains of decolonization and social change, led to an explosion of demands for greater democratic freedoms in the 1960s, and to the much more contested democratic politics of Europe in the late twentieth century.

Western Europe's Democratic Age is a compelling history that sheds new light not only on the past of European democracy but also on the unresolved question of its future.

Genres: History, European History, Nonfiction

365 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Stijn Jager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessante analyse over de Europese democratie tussen 1945-1968. Het boek boet aan duidelijkheid in vanwege het gebrek aan chronologische structuur. Ondanks dit gebrek aan chronologische structuur ligt de nadruk duidelijk op de periode 1945-1955, met een nogal summiere beschrijving van de jaren 60.

[Sara Jonker · Rating 3 out of 5]

its clearly great scholarship, but i fell asleep twice while reading it.

[Joseph St Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

We often don’t reflect enough on the foundations of our political regimes / institutions and how they foster stability, inclusivity, and prosperity (or don’t). In this book, Conway provides summary of the post-war conditions that led to the establishment of stable democracies in Western Europe in contrast to the extreme chaos of the previous era. Aided by the presence of US and British forces (which prevented communist coups and fascist resurgence), political elites and dominant middle classes were able to build stable consensus-based legislative governments across Western Europe. These (often technocratic) governments were optimized for calm stability rather than fully reflecting “the will of the people”, politicians tended to reflect sober competence, and politics tended to stay within the narrow range of the post-war consensus / compromise. This was a logical and highly successful effort to prevent the type of wild demagogues of who led Europe into WW2 and the postwar regimes generally allowed growing prosperity and relatively stable decolonization. As the war moved further into the past though, populations started to become a bit weary of these bland regimes and agitated for reforms - mostly clearly reflected in the Paris protests of 1968.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Yara · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️