The Great Retreat

Whether we like it or not, political parties are a necessary component of democracy. If you want to know why this is the case-what functions parties should perform in a democracy and what happens when they stop doing so-The Great Retreat is a must read. This book will help you understand the problems facing political parties and our democracy today as well as what needs to be done to make both work better. * Sheri Berman, Professor of Political Science, Barnard College, Columbia University *In The Great Retreat, Didi Kuo brilliantly weaves together a deep understanding of political economy with a comparative analysis of political parties across democracies. Her sharp insights reveal how the weakening of parties has destabilized the delicate balance between democracy and capitalism. An urgent and compelling case for why we must act now to rebuild and revitalize those most essential institutions of modern representative democracy-political parties. * Lee Drutman, Senior Fellow in the Political Reform Program, New America, and author of Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop *Many analysts are pushing for reforms designed to weaken the political parties they blame for our anguished politics. In this bracing book, Kuo convincingly argues that such steps would only make things worse. We need strong parties, with deep roots in local communities and associational life, to build a society in which the voices of ordinary citizens are heard and genuine prosperity widely shared. * Paul Pierson, John Gross Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley *Didi Kuo’s engaging study raises urgent questions about tensions between capitalism and democracy and why today’s overly professionalized and distant political parties have become less adept at mediating this relationship. This is must-reading for scholars, students, and interested citizens who see political parties in today’s world as more a hinderance than a help in representing the people’s interests. * Susan Stokes, Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor and Director of the Chicago Center on Democracy, University of Chicago *

Didi Kuo is a Center Fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University. She is the author of Clientelism, Capitalism, and Democracy: The Rise of Programmatic Politics in the United States and Britain, was an Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fellow at New America, and has written widely about democratization, capitalism, and political parties.