Europe Political System is Crumbling, Not Just In France
A burned-out vehicle on Rue Yves Toudic in Paris on Monday after a weekend of rioting. Credit... Kiran Ridley/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images By Steven Erlanger Steven Erlanger, based in Berlin, writes about European politics and diplomacy. New York Times Centrist parties are in trouble in Europe’s largest and most important nations. Anger over low economic growth, high inflation, sizable government debt and poor prospects for the young are feeding protest and populist parties of the far right and far left. The mass riots in France, which started as protests over underfunded schools, are a shocking example. But the phenomenon has been building for years, with the perceived failure of liberal democracy to make good on its promises of a better future, especially for the young and the salaried working class. There is a growing perception among many Europeans that traditional parties of the center-left and center-right do not offer real alternatives and are led by a...