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Why do the revolving doors of power always leave us disappointed In Why Politics Fails awardwinning Oxford professor Ben Ansell shows that its not the politicians that are the problem its that our collective goals result in five political traps

Democracy we all want a say in how were governed but its 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

Youve probably noticed a pattern here which is that our selfinterest 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 wont end but that it doesnt have to fail