As the Republican Party narrowed and weakened in the late 20t century, it became home to a succession of conservative movements which largely defeated the party’s moderate wing, lent it a more ideological coloration, and initiated the sharp polarization in American politics that lasted into the early 21st century.

Chapter 5 describes the decline and apathy of student and youth politics in the mid-1960s in political and religious institutions. I argue that the protest movements of the late 1960s emerged in response to the attenuation of student politics and the decline of traditional organisations. The protest movements sought to make politics possible via a model of provocation and protest rather than debate, critique and compromise. In western Europe, fears of authoritarianism, disappointed hopes for democratisation and disillusion with electoral compromise provided the background for protest. In each location, a mix of socialism, anarchism and anti-authoritarianism marked the nascent protest movement, in particular the German Student Socialist League (SDS) in West Germany, the Movement of 22 March in France, and the Anti-Authoritarian Student Movement at Trento in Italy.

Chapter 6 describes the crisis of representative politics in the mid- to late 1960s, at the national level, the level of youth organisation, and within the university. This crisis prompted a turntowards the occupation as a political tactic, the general assembly over representative organisations, and a preference for forms of direct democracy. The protest movements demanded autonomy, although they were not always clear how this would operate. However, forms of direct democracy such as the occupation had a short life-span and generated criticism for demagogy and its domination by student leaders. I argue that the protest movements found it difficult to reconcile their anti-hierarchical drive and the intense politicisation that led towards formation of a new political party.