Attention Deficit Democracy : The Paradox of Civic Engagement
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| Title: | Attention Deficit Democracy : The Paradox of Civic Engagement |
|---|---|
| Description: | Handwringing about political apathy is as old as democracy itself. As early as 425 BC, the playwright Aristophanes ridiculed his fellow Athenians for gossiping in the market instead of voting. In more recent decades, calls for greater civic engagement as a democratic cure-all have met with widespread agreement. But how realistic--or helpful--is it to expect citizens to devote more attention and energy to politics? In Attention Deficit Democracy, Ben Berger provides a surprising new perspective on the problem of civic engagement, challenging idealists who aspire to revolutionize democracies and their citizens, but also taking issue with cynics who think that citizens cannot--and need not--do better.'Civic engagement'has become an unwieldy and confusing catchall, Berger argues. We should talk instead of political, social, and moral engagement, figuring out which kinds of engagement make democracy work better, and how we might promote them. Focusing on political engagement and taking Alexis de Tocqueville and Hannah Arendt as his guides, Berger identifies ways to achieve the political engagement we want and need without resorting to coercive measures such as compulsory national service or mandatory voting. By providing a realistic account of the value of political engagement and practical strategies for improving it, while avoiding proposals we can never hope to achieve, Attention Deficit Democracy makes a persuasive case for a public philosophy that much of the public can actually endorse. |
| Authors: | Benjamin Berger |
| Resource Type: | eBook. |
| Subjects: | Political participation--United States, Democracy |
| Categories: | POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Democracy |
| Database: | eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) |
| FullText | Links: – Type: ebook-pdf – Type: ebook-epub Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Attention Deficit Democracy : The Paradox of Civic Engagement – Name: Abstract Label: Description Group: Ab Data: Handwringing about political apathy is as old as democracy itself. As early as 425 BC, the playwright Aristophanes ridiculed his fellow Athenians for gossiping in the market instead of voting. In more recent decades, calls for greater civic engagement as a democratic cure-all have met with widespread agreement. But how realistic--or helpful--is it to expect citizens to devote more attention and energy to politics? In Attention Deficit Democracy, Ben Berger provides a surprising new perspective on the problem of civic engagement, challenging idealists who aspire to revolutionize democracies and their citizens, but also taking issue with cynics who think that citizens cannot--and need not--do better.'Civic engagement'has become an unwieldy and confusing catchall, Berger argues. We should talk instead of political, social, and moral engagement, figuring out which kinds of engagement make democracy work better, and how we might promote them. Focusing on political engagement and taking Alexis de Tocqueville and Hannah Arendt as his guides, Berger identifies ways to achieve the political engagement we want and need without resorting to coercive measures such as compulsory national service or mandatory voting. By providing a realistic account of the value of political engagement and practical strategies for improving it, while avoiding proposals we can never hope to achieve, Attention Deficit Democracy makes a persuasive case for a public philosophy that much of the public can actually endorse. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Benjamin+Berger%22">Benjamin Berger</searchLink> – Name: TypePub Label: Resource Type Group: TypPub Data: eBook. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Political+participation--United+States%22">Political participation--United States</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Democracy%22">Democracy</searchLink> – Name: SubjectBISAC Label: Categories Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22POLITICAL+SCIENCE+%2F+Political+Ideologies+%2F+Democracy%22">POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Democracy</searchLink> |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Classifications: – Code: 323.0420973 Scheme: ddc Type: prePub Languages: – Code: eng Text: English Subjects: – SubjectFull: Political participation--United States Type: general – SubjectFull: Democracy Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Attention Deficit Democracy : The Paradox of Civic Engagement Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Benjamin Berger – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Benjamin Berger IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Type: published Y: 2011 – D: 04 M: 02 Type: profile Y: 2014 Identifiers: – Type: isbn-print Value: 9780691144689 – Type: isbn-electronic Value: 9781400840311 Titles: – TitleFull: Attention Deficit Democracy : The Paradox of Civic Engagement Type: main |
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