Diploma Democracy

A fascinating book by Mark Bovens and Anchrit Wille, Diploma Democracy, shows that what they call political meritocracy is advancing across the rich world. * The Economist *
This book is accessible and engaging with chapters often opening with humorous anecdotes. There are a lot of helpful graphs and tables and one does not need a PhD in maths to follow them. Its recommendations aside, this is a convincing book. It fulfils its explicit purposes and, I think, is good for undergraduate and graduate students in primarily English-speaking countries to learn about how and why politics, society and education are markedly different in some of the countries of Western Europe. * Jameel Hampton, London School of Economics and Political Science *
For all those who marvel how blue-collar workers from the rustbelt have come to vote for Donald Trump, this very well written, highly accessible text should come as an eye opener. Based on cutting edge social science research it not only shows how the citizens in the most advanced democracies are increasingly divided on the basis of education. It also documents that their democratically chosen representatives are almost exclusively recruited among the highly educated and exceptionally responsive to them. No wonder do the less educated feel left out. No wonder do they follow the sirens of populist leaders who speak their language and claim to give them a voice. This is a powerful statement that should be taken extremely seriously by politicians and political observers across Europe and the United States. * Hanspeter Kriesi, Stein Rokkan Chair for Comparative Politics, European University Institute, Florence *