Stealth Democracy: Americans' Beliefs about How Government Should Work

ISBN-13: 9780521009867 / Angielski / Miękka / 2002 / 304 str.

John R. Hibbing; Elizabeth Theiss-Morse; James H. Kuklinski

Opis

Examining how people want their democratic government to work, this study finds that Americans don't like many of the practices associated with democracy: the conflicts, the debates, the compromises. It finds that Americans don't want to have to see democracy in practice, nor do they want to be involved in politics. If American citizens had their way, political decisions would be made by unselfish decision-makers, lessening the need for monitoring government.

Recenzje

"This wonderfully provocative book uses survey data and interviews to support hypotheses that run against the conventional scholarly wisdom about what is wrong with the US political system.... This excellent contribution to the sociological and political science literature on participation is written in a clear, occasionally witty, and understandable prose that all will appreciate. Essential." Choice

Spis treści

Part I. The Benefits of Studying the Processes People Want: 1. Policy space and American politics; 2. Process space: an introduction; 3. Using process space to explain features of American politics; Part II. The Processes People Want: 4. Attitudes toward specific processes; 5. Public assessments of people and politicians; 6. Americans' desire for stealth democracy; Part III. Should People Be Given the Processes They Want?: 7. Popular deliberation and group involvement in theory; 8. The realities of popular deliberation and group involvement; 9. Improving government and people's attitudes toward it.