The Political Illusion

"What is politization? . . . (It is that) all problems have, in our time, become political" -J. Ellul, from the Introduction Jacques Ellul, the author of The Technological Society and Propaganda, here examines modern man's passion for politics, the roles he plays in them, and his place in the modern state. He holds that everything having now been "politized" anything not directly political fails to arouse widespread interest among contemporary men-and in fact might be said not to exist. He shows that political activity is now a kaleidoscope of interlocking illusions, among which the most basic and damaging are those of popular participation in government, popular control of elected and other officials, and popular solution of public problems. This domination by the political illusion, Ellul demonstrates, explains why men now turn to the state for the solution of all problems-most of them problems that the state could not solve if it tried. This close-reasoned, brilliant diagnosis and prognosis is, like Jacques Ellul's earlier books, an alarming analysis of present-day life. Contents Title page Copyright 1967 Translator s Introduction Author s Preface Contents INTRODUCTION-POLITIZATION 1 THE NECESSARY AND THE EPHEMERAL 2 THE AUTONOMY OF POLITICS 3 POLITICS IN THE WORLDOF IMAGES 4 THE POLITICAL ILLUSION: CONTROL OF THE STATE 5 THE POLITICAL ILLUSION: PARTICIPATION 6 THE POLITICAL ILLUSION: "POLITICAL SOLUTIONS" 7 DEPOLITIZATION AND TENSIONS 8 MAN AND DEMOCRACY Appen THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF ECONOMIC PLANNING Index A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR