Book Abstieg. Democratische Bedeutungslosigkeit – Ist Deutschland aus der Balance? (Fall. Democratic powerlessness – have Germany lost balance?) by Mathias Hüttenrauch and Benedikt Ötting fits into an ever-increasing stream of analyses on the crisis of liberal democracy in Western Europe.
Its peculiar value, however, is that authors do not focus on spectacular threats specified as authoritarianism or media simplifications concerning populism. The subject of their reflection is simply a process little visible but possibly more dangerous: the gradual failure of the importance of democracy as a real causative mechanism.
Formal democracy and democracy experienced
The starting point of the book is the discrimination between democracy as an organization strategy and democracy as a social experience.
Germany – the authors argue – remains a stable, law-abiding and formally democratic state. At the same time, however, an expanding proportion of citizens feel that their voice does not translate into real political decisions and that the state is losing its ability to act effectively in key areas.
It is precisely this discrepancy between “active democracy” and “feared powerlessness” that is the main subject Abstieg.... Hüttenrauch and Ötting show that the crisis is not about a abrupt collapse of the institutions, but about the erosion of the sense of democracy – its slow transformation into a procedure without real content.
Non-violent state and society of frustration
In the following chapters, authors analyse the structural causes of this situation. The criticism of the limited origin of the state, visible in areas specified as:
– chronic underinvestment of public infrastructure,
– housing crisis,
– administrative overload,
– delays in energy and digital transformation.
These problems are not presented as a consequence of the incompetence of individual governments, but as a consequence of long-term political decisions, subject to short-term fiscal logic, coalition compromises and interests of narrow economical groups. The authors rightly note that in specified a situation the public belief that "politics don't change anything". This in turn leads to a decline in confidence, alienation of voters and vulnerability to anti-system narratives – even though the democratic institutions themselves are formally continuing unchanged.
Elites, representation and inequality
An crucial subject of the book is criticism of contemporary political and administrative elites, which, according to the authors, are increasingly little typical of the social experience of most citizens. Hüttenrauch and Ötting do not mention to the populist rhetoric of "the people against the elite", but show political selection mechanisms conducive to the reproduction of narrow social and professional environments.
In this context, social and property inequalities play a peculiar role, which, although little drastic in Germany than in another countries, systematically undermine the sense of political community. Democracy, which is incapable to guarantee a minimum of equal opportunities and social security, loses its normative credibility, as the authors say.
Without Catastrophe and Without Imagination
One of the top advantages Abstieg... is the speech of analysis. The authors avoid both catastrophe and easy optimism. They do not claim that Germany is on the verge of systemic collapse, but equally powerfully reject the communicative by "A well-functioning democracy that only needs insignificant adjustments".
Instead, they propose a realistic diagnosis of the crisis's ability to act, indicating that the future of democracy depends on rebuilding its material and organization foundations. Democracy, they stress, cannot be based solely on procedures, values and symbols; it must be able to solve real social problems.
International relevance and validity
Although the book deals with Germany, its pronunciation goes far beyond the context of 1 state. Many of the phenomena described – the frustration of citizens, the crisis of representation, the limited accountability of governments in a globalised environment – are transnational. Therefore, Fall... can be read as an crucial voice in the European debate on the future of liberal democracy. For the Polish reader, the book has an additional comparative value: it shows that the crisis of democracy does not request to take the form of violent systemic conflicts, but it can make quietly and gradually, under the protection of unchangeable institutions.
Conclusion
Fall. Democratic powerlessness – have Germany lost balance? It's an insightful, well documented and intellectually honest work that avoids publicist simplification. Hüttenrauch and Ötting offer the reader not so much a ready-made solution, but a framework to think about democracy as a strategy requiring constant maintenance of its doings.
It is simply a peculiarly valuable book for policy researchers, sociologists, journalists and all curious in the condition of modern democracy – a reading that is demanding but highly timely.
Note about authors
Mathias Hüttenrauch is simply a political scientist and social analyst who researches the functioning of the state, liberal democracy and public policy. It focuses on the relation between organization structures and the social experience of citizens.
Benedikt Ötting is simply a political scientist and publicist, specializing in the analysis of contemporary German and European politics. His investigation interests include a crisis of political representation, populism and the transformation of democracy in the context of late capitalism.
Matthäus Golla
Mathias Hüttenrauch, Benedikt Ötting, Abstieg. Democratische Bedeutungslosigkeit – Ist Deutschland aus der Balance?, Forward Verlag, Paderborn 2025, p. 256.