Pub Date : 2021-09-23DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197556450.003.0003
R. Talisse
This chapter formulates the central problem of the book: the democrat’s dilemma. The dilemma emerges from a conflict between two directives of citizenship: first, citizens must politically participate on behalf of their best judgments of what justice requires, and second, citizens must treat one another as equals. But when we disagree about politics, we see those who oppose us as not merely wrong about the issue at hand, but in the wrong. We see our opposition as devoted to a mistaken vision of justice, and thus as advocating injustice. So why treat them as our equals? Why uphold the democratic requirement to acknowledge them as entitled to an equal say? Why not instead seek simply to defeat them politically? In short, why sustain democracy in our interactions with them? This chapter argues that there are often quite compelling reasons for citizens to suspend democracy. Thus, sustaining democracy is a challenge.
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Pub Date : 2021-09-23DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197556450.003.0006
Robert B. Talisse
This Epilogue encapsulates the main thread of the book and reflects on the current state of US politics. In order to sustain democratic relations with our allies, we need also to sustain democratic relations with at least some of our opponents, even though we may see them as obstacles to achieving justice. Sustaining democracy with political opponents is not easy, as current conditions in the United States and elsewhere amply demonstrate. Yet this book does not attempt to provide a blueprint for saving democracy. It only aspires to demonstrate that the project of restoring democracy is in part a task within each citizen to manage psychological and cognitive forces that impede the democratic ethos.
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Pub Date : 2021-09-23DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197556450.003.0002
R. Talisse
Democracy is many things: a system of government, a procedure for making decisions, a set of institutions, and so on. But democracy is also a moral idea. It is the idea that a relatively just, decent, and stable society is possible in the absence of kings and nobility. It is the idea of a society of self-governing equals. That democratic citizens are political equals means that they must regard one another in certain ways. This chapter spells out a conception of the ethos of democratic citizenship, a collection of duties and virtues that apply to citizens. Ultimately, it defends the idea of democracy as a practical ideal, the aspiration for a society that is governed by its citizens.
{"title":"Democracy as a Society of Equals","authors":"R. Talisse","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780197556450.003.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197556450.003.0002","url":null,"abstract":"Democracy is many things: a system of government, a procedure for making decisions, a set of institutions, and so on. But democracy is also a moral idea. It is the idea that a relatively just, decent, and stable society is possible in the absence of kings and nobility. It is the idea of a society of self-governing equals. That democratic citizens are political equals means that they must regard one another in certain ways. This chapter spells out a conception of the ethos of democratic citizenship, a collection of duties and virtues that apply to citizens. Ultimately, it defends the idea of democracy as a practical ideal, the aspiration for a society that is governed by its citizens.","PeriodicalId":331269,"journal":{"name":"Sustaining Democracy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126536901","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-23DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197556450.003.0004
Robert B. Talisse
The challenge of sustaining democracy is complicated by the fact that political engagement exposes citizens to a cognitive and social dynamical force known as belief polarization that leads us to over-ascribe malicious motives, irrational ideas, and extreme commitments to those who we perceive to be political opponents. As we politically interact with our fellow partisans, we come to see those who do not share our political identity as untrustworthy, incompetent, and threatening. This gives rise to the democrat’s dilemma. However, belief polarization also infects our alliances, turning groups of like-minded people into increasingly homogeneous and conformist units that ultimately are internally hierarchical and unstable. The reason we have to sustain democracy with our foes is that unless we do so, we will not be able to sustain democracy among our allies.
{"title":"The Polarization Dynamic","authors":"Robert B. Talisse","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780197556450.003.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197556450.003.0004","url":null,"abstract":"The challenge of sustaining democracy is complicated by the fact that political engagement exposes citizens to a cognitive and social dynamical force known as belief polarization that leads us to over-ascribe malicious motives, irrational ideas, and extreme commitments to those who we perceive to be political opponents. As we politically interact with our fellow partisans, we come to see those who do not share our political identity as untrustworthy, incompetent, and threatening. This gives rise to the democrat’s dilemma. However, belief polarization also infects our alliances, turning groups of like-minded people into increasingly homogeneous and conformist units that ultimately are internally hierarchical and unstable. The reason we have to sustain democracy with our foes is that unless we do so, we will not be able to sustain democracy among our allies.","PeriodicalId":331269,"journal":{"name":"Sustaining Democracy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123876204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-23DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197556450.003.0005
R. Talisse
In order to sustain democracy, we must develop strategies for managing belief polarization within ourselves and our coalitions. This chapter spells out a two-stage approach. First, citizens must establish channels for subjecting their ideas to reasonable criticism; second, citizens need to occasionally create distance between themselves and the fray of partisan politics.
{"title":"How Can We Sustain Democracy?","authors":"R. Talisse","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780197556450.003.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197556450.003.0005","url":null,"abstract":"In order to sustain democracy, we must develop strategies for managing belief polarization within ourselves and our coalitions. This chapter spells out a two-stage approach. First, citizens must establish channels for subjecting their ideas to reasonable criticism; second, citizens need to occasionally create distance between themselves and the fray of partisan politics.","PeriodicalId":331269,"journal":{"name":"Sustaining Democracy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121343967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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