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Globalization and Democracy 201

politics, though it should encourage party politics to become more inclu-
sive rather than ever more tightly focused on the personalities of party
leaders.
It is in this context that the triumphant election of Barack Obama in
2008 seems to mark something of an exception to the decline of political
parties. The election was, of course, very much focused on Obama ’ s per-
sonality, his individual charisma, as well as on the fact that he was the
fi rst African - American to be nominated to run for president. In addition,
Obama presented himself very emphatically as a politician building con-
sensus “ beyond Left and Right. ” What was exceptional about his cam-
paign for presidency, however, was the grassroots support it drew in,
especially amongst young and African - American fi rst - time voters. There
are two important aspects of Obama ’ s campaign that mean it may mark
a turning point for the legitimacy of political parties. First, in terms of
political communication, his supporters brought the campaign to the
Internet in an unprecedented way, micro - targeting American citizens
through social networking sites, personal websites, and the use of
YouTube, as well as using more conventional political marketing tech-
niques. Second, the campaign raised most of its money from small dona-
tions, which meant that Obama was not beholden to large funders once
he was in offi ce (Castells, 2009 ). In mobilizing grassroots supporters from
outside the traditional party structure, and fi nding new ways to commu-
nicate beyond political communication via public relations professionals
and “ spin doctors, ” the Obama campaigners may have found a way to
revitalize political parties and government elections. It remains to be seen,
however, how much their success depended on Obama ’ s special appeal
as a person and as a representative of the American dream, as well as to
the fact that he was a relative newcomer to the elites of the Democratic

Party, and therefore had to find ways to reach out beyond it.
Political parties still function procedurally in liberal - democracies as the
means by which governments are elected and organized. Those who favor
direct democracy have always criticized representative democracy as effec-
tively undemocratic: how democratic is a political system in which citizens
are governed by people they only vote for every few years? In recent years,
the criticism that citizens have too little voice in government is becoming
even more telling, as so few people are directly involved in government
politics, or choose to vote at all. In addition, those who are concerned
that liberal - democratic procedures make little contribution to substantive
democracy see the loss of citizens ’ social rights over the last few decades
as clearly indicative that we are now in an era of “ post - democracy ”
(Crouch, 2004 ).