There is a simple explanation for the disillusionment with politics that seems to be growing as the British general election approaches. The more each political party denigrates its opponents as mad, bad and dangerous to vote for, the more the public concludes that the same applies, without distinction, to the whole lot of them.But that is not the whole story. The disillusionment with governing elites that the British are noticing is an international phenomenon. Britain may be ruled by too many career politicians of Left or Right who studied the same PPE – philosophy, politics and economics – course at Oxford and share its underlying assumptions. But the Greek political establishment recently turfed out of office did not have PPEs. Nor did the beleaguered Left or Right status
05 February 2015, The Tablet
One common critique behind the rejection of political elites is their lack of virtue
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