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Overview"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." Full Product DetailsAuthor: Benjamin BergerPublisher: Princeton University Press Imprint: Princeton University Press Dimensions: Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 23.50cm Weight: 0.454kg ISBN: 9780691144689ISBN 10: 0691144680 Pages: 224 Publication Date: 11 September 2011 Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Tertiary & Higher Education , Professional & Vocational Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Temporarily unavailable  The supplier advises that this item is temporarily unavailable. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out to you. Language: English Table of ContentsPreface vii CHAPTER 1: Introduction 1 CHAPTER 2: The Rules of Engagement 24 CHAPTER 3: Political Engagement as Intrinsic Good: Arendt and Company 52 CHAPTER 4: Political Engagement as Instrumental Good: Tocqueville, Attention Deficit, and Energy 83 CHAPTER 5: Is Political Engagement Better Than Sex? 121 CHAPTER 6: Conclusion: Tocqueville vs. the Full Monty 144 Bibliography 175 Index 195ReviewsAcknowledging that there are real limits to how involved citizens will be in political activity, [Berger] develops a sophisticated and balanced argument for policies to enhance political engagement, mainly through institutional changes to encourage and especially to make better use of citizens' activity. The book is clearly written and accessible. -- Choice Author InformationBen Berger is associate professor of political science at Swarthmore College. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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