Alternative Politics, Privatization and Democracy: Theoretical Aspects and the Israeli Case.

This paper explains the nature of privatization by displacement, which occurs when governmental production of services is gradually displaced by the private sector usually due to public dissatisfaction, or intended withdrawal of the government from service production, yet it depends on local initiatives and entrepreneurship. The central argument suggests that such alternative provision of governmental services encourages public initiatives and participation, but, it may reinforce short-term unilateral strategies as a typical mode of behavior, limit the potential for governmental control and reduce trust in government. Furthermore, when providers and consumers are engaged in extra-legal or illegal activities, displacement of governmental functions imposes threat over the rule of law and the basis of legitimacy of a democratic government. These conditions often characterize developing countries where this mode of behavior diffuses to the bureaucratic and political systems. .x000d.These arguments are illustrated on central socio-political processes which occurred in Israel since the 1980s to the present. These processes included the evolution of wide-spread alternative politics as a typical mode of behavior in Israeli society. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]