"Liberty is essential for democracy's thriving"
In Germany, for about 15 years, companies have been delivering food and other services directly to customers' doorsteps on demand. This trend has extended beyond the business world, influencing the political arena, where the Chancellor and his ministers are often metaphorically referred to as diligent delivery men. This metaphor suggests a customer-centric approach to governance, where politics is expected to "deliver results" to citizens.
This concept of politics as a service-delivery system has evolved significantly from early modern political thought. The idea that politics should deliver tangible benefits like security, welfare, and economic prosperity gained momentum especially in the 19th and 20th centuries as political systems shifted toward greater mass participation and accountability.
Karl Kraus, an Austrian critic from the early 20th century, indirectly influenced this discourse through his sharp cultural and political aphorisms. His skeptical, satirical stance highlighted the gap between political declarations and actual achievements, capturing the cynicism toward political grandstanding that fails to yield substantive results. Though Kraus did not explicitly formulate a theory of political delivery, his aphorism from 1912, "I demand asphalt, street cleaning, door key, central heating, and hot water supply from a city," captures the expectation for politics to provide practical necessities for comfortable living.
Historically, the evolution of this idea can be traced through stages. Pre-modern and early modern politics focused largely on sovereignty, order, and legitimacy, with less emphasis on delivering social welfare or economic benefits as obligations to citizens. In the 19th century, nationalist movements introduced clear political aims centered on collective identity and statehood, promising deliverance of freedom and security. The 20th century saw the rise of ideologies and regimes that twisted the concept of political "delivery" into distorted, often brutal forms. Post-WWII liberal democracies transformed these demands into calls for governance accountability, economic performance, and social rights.
In contemporary democracies, citizens increasingly demand that politicians produce measurable benefits—jobs, security, healthcare—beyond mere representation or ideological promises. This expectation for politics to deliver a ready-made good society is a continuation of the metaphor of politics as a service-delivery system, as seen in the rise of companies that deliver services on demand. However, criticism of politics today often includes the accusation that it fails to deliver a good society ready-made to the doorstep, suggesting a dissatisfaction with the customer-centric approach to governance.
Kraus' aphorism serves as a cautionary lens on the political imperative to deliver results. It reminds us that failure to meet these expectations fosters disillusionment, skepticism, or dangerous populist alternatives. His perspective remains relevant today in critiques of political performance and authenticity. Thus, the historical evolution of the idea that politics must deliver results has moved from abstract sovereignty to concrete accountability, shaped by social movements, ideological battles, and critics like Kraus who have underscored the dangers of empty political rhetoric.
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