A DIFFERENT KIND OF DEMOCRATIC COMPETENCE: CITIZENSHIP AND DEMOCRATIC COMMUNITY

Social-scientific data, such as those found in Philip E. Converse's 1964 essay, "The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics," have led some to question whether basic assumptions about democratic legitimacy are unfounded. However, by another set of criteria, we have the "democra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Critical review (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2008-01, Vol.20 (1-2), p.57-74
Main Author: Deneen, Patrick J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citizenship
Competence
Democracy
Knowledge
Political behavior
Political power
Political science
Power
Public policy
United States of America
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Summary:Social-scientific data, such as those found in Philip E. Converse's 1964 essay, "The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics," have led some to question whether basic assumptions about democratic legitimacy are unfounded. However, by another set of criteria, we have the "democracy" that was intended by the Framers-namely, a liberal representative system that avoids strong civic engagement by the citizenry. At its deepest level, the American system has been designed to ensure elite influence over the main ambitions of American policy: the expansion of public and private power. When social scientists accumulate findings of civic disengagement and ignorance, it is wrongly supposed to be an indictment of the citizenry; rather, those findings should be understood as the expected result of a certain set of commitments throughout American political history, of which civic apathy and ignorance are the desired outcomes.
ISSN:0891-3811
1933-8007
DOI:10.1080/08913810802316340