身份政治第三波与西方国家的政治衰败——基于国家建构视角的分析

The Third Wave of Identity Politics and Political Decay of Western Countries:An Analysis on Nation-state Building Perspective

身份政治已日益成为西方政治的重要特征。身份政治在西方国家引发国民身份的普遍性危机,导致民粹主义和政治极化泛滥,冲击并削弱了整个治理体系,进而开启了政治衰败的进程。本文基于国家建构视角,梳理身份政治、国家建构、政治衰败等关键概念,立足历史与现实经验来解释身份政治引发西方国家政治衰败的一个基本路径。本文的基本结论是,外部环境和内部制度是西方政治衰败的两个发生机制,而身份政治则是将这两者联系起来的关键一环。在当代西方国家,身份政治一方面加剧了外部环境的冲击效果,另一方面又放大了其制度自身的内部缺陷。身份政治激进化与制度性缺陷之间彼此震荡且相互强化,从而开启了政治衰败的进程。

Identity politics has increasingly become an important feature of Western politics.Identity politics has triggered a universal crisis of national identity in Western countries,leading to the proliferation of populism and political polarization,weakening the entire governance system,and thus starting the process of political decay.Based on the perspective of nation-state building,this article reviews key concepts such as identity politics,nation-state building,and political decay.Through historical and practical analysis,this article also explains a path by which identity politics triggers political decay in Western countries.The basic conclusion is that the external environment and the internal system are the two mechanisms for the decay of Western politics,and identity politics is the key link between the two.In contemporary Western countries,identity politics on the one hand exacerbated the impact of the external environment,on the other hand,it magnified the internal defects of the system itself.The radicalization of identity politics and institutional defects oscillate and reinforce each other,thus starting the process of political decay.