Western Europe's Democratic Age

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This major new history explores the emergence of democracy as the dominant political force in Western Europe after World War II. Martin Conway provides an innovative account of how a stable and uniform model of parliamentary democracy developed and maintained its influence until the late twentieth century. Drawing from diverse sources, he illustrates that the postwar democratic order was shaped by elite, intellectual, and popular movements. It was not merely a result of the defeat of fascism and the rejection of Communism; rather, it was underpinned by universal suffrage and new forms of state authority, alongside political forces like Christian and social democrats that championed democratic values. Crucially, this order garnered popular support, as democracy offered a new model of citizenship aligned with the aspirations of a more prosperous society. However, this democratic framework faced challenges. The hierarchies of class, gender, and race that initially bolstered it, along with the pressures of decolonization and social change, sparked demands for greater freedoms in the 1960s, leading to more contested democratic politics in late twentieth-century Europe. This compelling history not only illuminates the past of European democracy but also raises questions about its future.