Why do the revolving doors of power always leave us disappointed? In Why Politics Fails, award-winning Oxford professor Ben Ansell shows that it's not the politicians that are the problem, it's that our collective goals result in five political 'traps'.
Democracy: we all want a say in how we're governed, but it's impossible to have any true 'will of the people'. Equality: we want to be treated equally, but equal rights and equal outcomes undermine each other. Solidarity: we want a safety net when times are tough, but often we care about solidarity only when we need it ourselves. Security: we want protecting from harm, but not if it undermines our freedoms. Prosperity: we want to be richer tomorrow, but what makes us richer in the short run makes us poorer over the long haul.
You've probably noticed a pattern here, which is that our self-interest undermines our ability to deliver on our collective goals. And these traps reinforce one another, so a polarized democracy can worsen inequality; a threadbare social safety net can worsen crime; runaway climate change will threaten global peace.
Drawing on examples from Ancient Greece through Brexit and using his own counterintuitive and pathbreaking research - on why democracy thrives under high inequality, and how increased political and social equality can lead to greater class inequality - Ansell vividly illustrates how we can escape the political traps of our imperfect world. He shows that politics won't end, but that it doesn't have to fail.



![Mulqueen Ciaran BARGAIN IRISH POLITICS Ciarán Mulqueen: How to Buy a Home in Ireland: A Guide to Navigating the Irish Property Market [2023] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/mulqueen-ciaran-ciaran-mulqueen-how-to-buy-a-home-in-ireland-a-guide-to-navigating-the-irish-property-market-2023-paperback-57818454982995_{width}x.jpg?v=1736853573)
![Khalidi, Rashid I. HISTORY Rashid I. Khalidi: The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonial Conquest and Resistance [2020] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/khalidi-rashid-i-rashid-i-khalidi-the-hundred-years-war-on-palestine-a-history-of-settler-colonial-conquest-and-resistance-2020-paperback-59356491055443_{width}x.jpg?v=1728368041)
![Skalietska, Yeva CURRENT AFFAIRS Yeva Skalietska: You Don't Know What War Is: The Diary of a Young Girl From Ukraine [2022] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/skalietska-yeva-yeva-skalietska-you-don-t-know-what-war-is-the-diary-of-a-young-girl-from-ukraine-2022-paperback-52128259047763_{width}x.jpg?v=1694350232)
![Hayden, Sally CURRENT AFFAIRS Sally Hayden: My Fourth Time We Drowned: Seeking [2023] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/hayden-sally-sally-hayden-my-fourth-time-we-drowned-seeking-2023-paperback-53310552146259_{width}x.jpg?v=1702049720)
![Michelle, Obama BARGAIN CURRENT AFFAIRS Michelle Obama: The Light We Carry: Overcoming In Uncertain Times [2022] hardback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/michelle-obama-michelle-obama-the-light-we-carry-overcoming-in-uncertain-times-2022-hardback-57686945202515_{width}x.jpg?v=1726929841)