Written in a provocative, jargon-free style ideal for stimulating classroom discussion, America’s Failing Experiment directly challenges would-be reformers who believe the solution to our current political paralysis is more democracy. Kirby Goidel finds that the fault for our contemporary political dysfunction resides not with our elected officials but with our democratic citizenries. He argues that our elected officials are overly responsive to public opinion which is often poorly informed, incoherent, and uncertain. The result is a more polarized political system, rising inequality, and institutional gridlock. Though not new, these concerns take on deeper political significance in a digital age where information flows more quickly and opportunities for feedback are virtually unlimited. If the diagnosis is too much democracy, the counterintuitive solution runs against our cultural norms—less citizen involvement, greater discretion for political elites, and greater collective responsibility.
The Bill of Rights—the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution—are widely misunderstood by many Americans. This book explores the widely held myths about the Bill of Rights, how these myths originated, why they have persisted, and the implications for contemporary politics and policy. Interestingly, most Americans today—even professional political commentators—misinterpret or misunderstand what the Bill of Rights' intended meaning and purposes were. Culturally ingrained myths about the Bill of Rights have helped to define what it means to be an "American" but also limited the range of political debate and justified unfair and unequal treatment of minorities. This book addresses the top ten myths regarding the Bill of Rights from the standpoint of public understanding (and misunderstanding) from a non-partisan, objective point of view, provoking independent thought and enabling readers to reach their own educated conclusions and opinions. Written by two experts in the fields of political science, public policy, media law, and civil liberties, the work explores the key role of modern news and entertainment media in contributing to public misunderstanding of individual rights and liberties. The authors also apply and interpret data from public opinion surveys to further examine public beliefs about the Bill of Rights and closely connect the analysis of misperceptions to existing political beliefs.
Democracy’s Meanings challenges conventional wisdom regarding how the public thinks about and evaluates democracy. Mining both political theory and more than 75 years of public opinion data, the book argues that Americans think about democracy in ways that go beyond voting or elected representation. Instead, citizens have rich and substantive views about the material conditions that democracy should produce, which draw from their beliefs about equality, fairness, and justice. The authors construct a typology of views about democracy. Procedural views of democracy take a minimalistic quality. While voting and fair treatment are important to this vision of democracy, ideas about equality are mostly limited to civil liberties. In contrast, social views of democracy incorporate both civil and economic equality; according to people with these views, democracy ought to meet the basic social and material needs of citizens. Complementing these two groups are moderate and indifferent views about democracy. While moderate views sit somewhere in between procedural and social perspectives regarding the role of democracy in producing social and economic equality, indifferent views of democracy involve disaffection toward it. For a small group of apathetic citizens, democracy is an ambiguous and ill-defined concept.
The Bill of Rights—the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution—are widely misunderstood by many Americans. This book explores the widely held myths about the Bill of Rights, how these myths originated, why they have persisted, and the implications for contemporary politics and policy. Interestingly, most Americans today—even professional political commentators—misinterpret or misunderstand what the Bill of Rights' intended meaning and purposes were. Culturally ingrained myths about the Bill of Rights have helped to define what it means to be an "American" but also limited the range of political debate and justified unfair and unequal treatment of minorities. This book addresses the top ten myths regarding the Bill of Rights from the standpoint of public understanding (and misunderstanding) from a non-partisan, objective point of view, provoking independent thought and enabling readers to reach their own educated conclusions and opinions. Written by two experts in the fields of political science, public policy, media law, and civil liberties, the work explores the key role of modern news and entertainment media in contributing to public misunderstanding of individual rights and liberties. The authors also apply and interpret data from public opinion surveys to further examine public beliefs about the Bill of Rights and closely connect the analysis of misperceptions to existing political beliefs.
Democracy’s Meanings challenges conventional wisdom regarding how the public thinks about and evaluates democracy. Mining both political theory and more than 75 years of public opinion data, the book argues that Americans think about democracy in ways that go beyond voting or elected representation. Instead, citizens have rich and substantive views about the material conditions that democracy should produce, which draw from their beliefs about equality, fairness, and justice. The authors construct a typology of views about democracy. Procedural views of democracy take a minimalistic quality. While voting and fair treatment are important to this vision of democracy, ideas about equality are mostly limited to civil liberties. In contrast, social views of democracy incorporate both civil and economic equality; according to people with these views, democracy ought to meet the basic social and material needs of citizens. Complementing these two groups are moderate and indifferent views about democracy. While moderate views sit somewhere in between procedural and social perspectives regarding the role of democracy in producing social and economic equality, indifferent views of democracy involve disaffection toward it. For a small group of apathetic citizens, democracy is an ambiguous and ill-defined concept.
Written in a provocative, jargon-free style ideal for stimulating classroom discussion, America’s Failing Experiment directly challenges would-be reformers who believe the solution to our current political paralysis is more democracy. Kirby Goidel finds that the fault for our contemporary political dysfunction resides not with our elected officials but with our democratic citizenries. He argues that our elected officials are overly responsive to public opinion which is often poorly informed, incoherent, and uncertain. The result is a more polarized political system, rising inequality, and institutional gridlock. Though not new, these concerns take on deeper political significance in a digital age where information flows more quickly and opportunities for feedback are virtually unlimited. If the diagnosis is too much democracy, the counterintuitive solution runs against our cultural norms—less citizen involvement, greater discretion for political elites, and greater collective responsibility.
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