Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Fishkin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Campaign Finance ◽  
Mass Public ◽  
The People ◽  
Entry Points ◽  
The Will ◽  
Public Voice ◽  
To Come

Democracy requires some connection to the “will of the people.” But there are impediments to how that will is formed and how it is connected to public decisions. Efforts to manipulate public opinion, the competitive pressures of campaigns, discussions among the like-minded on social media, distortions of campaign finance all make it difficult for a mostly inattentive mass public to come to considered judgments. “Deliberative democracy” offers a useful method of supplementing our current political practices. There is a need for research and experimentation into entry points for a thoughtful and representative public voice. Such efforts provide a solution to a recurring dilemma—do we listen to the people and get the angry voices of populism or rely on widely distrusted elites and get policies that seem out of touch with the public’s concerns. Populism or technocracy? Deliberative democracy can provide a thoughtful and representative public voice.

Democracy When the People Are Thinking

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Fishkin
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Fake News ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
The People ◽  
The Will

Democracy requires a connection to the “will of the people.” What does that mean in a world of “fake news,” relentless advocacy, dialogue mostly among the like-minded, and massive spending to manipulate public opinion? What kind of opinion can the public have under such conditions? What would democracy be like if the people were really thinking in depth about the policies they must live with? This book argues that “deliberative democracy” is not utopian. It is a practical solution to many of democracy’s ills. It can supplement existing institutions with practical reforms. It can apply at all levels of government and for many different kinds of policy choices. This book speaks to a recurring dilemma: listen to the people and get the angry voices of populism or rely on widely distrusted elites and get policies that seem out of touch with the public’s concerns. Instead, there are methods for getting a representative and thoughtful public voice that is really worth listening to. Democracy is under siege in most countries. Democratic institutions have low approval and face a resurgent threat from authoritarian regimes. Deliberative democracy can provide an antidote. It can reinvigorate our democratic politics. This book draws on the author’s research with many collaborators on “Deliberative Polling”—a process he has conducted in twenty-seven countries on six continents. It contributes both to political theory and to the empirical study of public opinion and participation, and should interest anyone concerned about the future of democracy and how it can be revitalized.

The Institutions of Deliberative Democracy

2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Democratic Process ◽  
Current Interest ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
The People ◽  
The Will ◽  
Over Time

A theory of democratic institutions should provide us with a coherent combination of definition and justification. It should explain how it defines democratic institutions and also how they will or should function; but it also should explain why democracy, so understood, is desirable. We are all familiar with stories about the fiscal excesses to which democracies are prone, stories about the ignorance of voters, and stories about the venality of legislators. Some of us may also be suspicious of concepts such as “consent” or “the will of the people” associated with traditional arguments for democracy. Against this background, the current interest in deliberative democracy seems promising. This conception of democracy does not rely, for example, on the idea of rational and knowledgeable voters satisfying preferences they have independent of the political process. Nor does it rely on any notion of an independent popular will. Instead, it offers a picture of the democratic process as one in which men and women engage in constructive discussion, seeking a principled resolution of their differences and developing, over time, a conception of the terms on which they will live with one another.

The Philosophy of Social Life

Philosophy ◽  
1929 ◽  
Vol 4 (15) ◽  
pp. 367-378
Author(s):  
C. Delisle Burns
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Community Or ◽  
The People ◽  
Or Economics ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Difference

Philosophers less subtle than those of the Middle Ages feel no difficulty about such words as “and” or such phrases as “member of”; but even to write “man and society” has committed us to an assumption which may not be justifiable, and to say that men are “members” of a community or of a trade union is so alarming a metaphor that it would startle Duns Scotus. It is unwise, however, to ask philosophers what they mean when they feel very passionately about what they say, for the confusion becomes even greater than it was if passion gets into explanation. It is supposed to be obvious that men exist and that States and Trade Unions and Churches exist; and who would be so foolish as to raise difficulties about the difference between existence and essence? Many who claim to be scientists with regard to politics or economics suppose it to be obvious that there is an “essence” called “public opinion” or “the will of the people” or “utility”; and what Occamite would now dare to say that entities are not to be multiplied ?

scholarly journals On Behalf of the People: The Use of Public Opinion and the Perception of “the People” in Political Communication Strategies of Dutch MPs

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-157
Author(s):  
Edina Strikovic ◽  
Toni G. L. A. van der Meer ◽  
Emma van der Goot ◽  
Linda Bos ◽  
Rens Vliegenthart
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
The People ◽  
The Will ◽  
Elite Interviews ◽  
Political Spectrum

This study investigates the role of public opinion for members of parliaments (MPs) in a time in which communication about the will of “the People” is high on the political agenda. By means of face-to-face elite interviews with Dutch MPs, we explore who politicians perceive as “the People,” how they assess “the will of the People,” and how this translates into their communication strategies. We find that MPs distinguish between listening to individual opinion, to understand what topics are at the forefront of “the People’s” minds, and taking political action considering a more general public. MPs are divided in their acceptance of the term “the People”—some find it useful, while others voice concerns over its antipluralistic implications. We find evidence of populist communication strategies in the form of references to public opinion across the political spectrum. Political communication is used for political marketing and to connect to the electorate. We conclude that Dutch MPs are not becoming more populist across the political spectrum, but rather that there is a tendency toward personalization and authenticity in political communication, which makes “normal” political communication appear more populist.

scholarly journals Conflict chatnography: Instant messaging apps, social media and conflict ethnography in Ukraine

Ethnography ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilmari Käihkö
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Private Life ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Magic Bullet ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
The People ◽  
Contemporary Life ◽  
To Come

Social media and instant messaging are fast becoming an integral part of contemporary life, and subsequently of ethnographic research. As ethnography is essentially a process defined by relations between people, this article investigates how online interaction influenced my relationships with the people I studied: Ukrainian volunteer battalions. Framed in a broader context of conflict ethnography, the resulting chatnography made access to informants tremendously easier, and allowed for remote data collection. Chatnography nevertheless exacerbated ethical challenges posed by study of armed conflict. The blending of offline and online also led to despatialization, and the blurring of personal and professional. This questions the traditional notion of the ‘field’, while more immediately threatening to limit my private life. While not a magic bullet, the convenience of chatnography means that it will be here for years to come. This article offers an attempt to investigate what this entails in practice.

Rule of, by, and for the People

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Dallmayr
Keyword(s):  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Alternative Conceptions ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Homo Economicus ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
The People ◽  
Rational Argumentation ◽  
To Come ◽  
Minimalist Conception

Probing the meaning of Lincoln’s phrase, the chapter calls into question the prevalent conceptions of “rule” and “people.” In the dominant procedural or “minimalist” conception, the “people” are defined as selfish utility-maximizers; that is, individuals who seek to maximize benefits in exchange for minimal investments. “Rule” is simply government by the most successful self-seekers. The chapter also discusses the (recently advanced) alternative conceptions of “agonistic” and “deliberative” democracy. By contrast to the homo economicus extolled by liberal minimalism, agonistics privileges homo politicus (human beings as power seekers), while the deliberative model stresses rational argumentation (animal rationale). By returning to the criteria of relationality and potentiality, the chapter lifts up the aspirational or “promissory” quality of democracy, paying special attention to Derrida’s notion of “democracy to come” (à venir) and to the open-ended, unfinished character of “people” and humanity. Seen from this angle, democracy can also be called aporetic or “apophatic.”

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