The Democratic Faith: Essays on Democratic Citizenship

by Paul M. Sniderman

Overview

Can the citizens of a democracy be trusted to run it properly?

Modern political science has concentrated on cataloguing voters’ failings—their lack of knowledge, tolerance, or consistency in political thinking. While it would be a mistake to think this portrait of citizens is simply wrong, it is a deeper mistake to accept it as a satisfactory likeness. In this book, Paul Sniderman demonstrates that a concentration on the pathologies of citizens’ political thinking has obscured the intense clash of opposing belief systems in the electorate. He shows how a concentration on racism has distorted understanding of the politics of race by keeping out of sight those who think well of black Americans. And he exposes the fallacy of spotlighting the dangers of mass politics while ignoring those of elite politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300231915
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	09/26/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Paul M. Sniderman is the Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Jr., Professor in Public Policy and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is coauthor most recently of Paradoxes of Liberal Democracy: Islam, Western Europe, and the Danish Cartoon Crisis.

Editorial Reviews

11/15/2017
With today's concerns about the "limitations" of citizens when it comes to political discourse, Sniderman (Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Jr. Professor in Public Policy, Stanford Univ.; coauthor, Paradoxes of Liberal Democracy) compiles a collection of four essays that address the question: "Can the citizens of a democracy be trusted to run it properly?" The author takes the position that while many researchers in public opinion focus on the issues surrounding the ability of the average person to understand and meaningfully engage with modern democratic citizenship, it is just as important to understand the effect of the polarization of belief systems in the electorate; how the politics of race has been distorted by the focus on racism; and how concentrating on the dangers of mass politics should not allow a lack of focus on the dangers of elite politics. Sniderman succeeds in asking questions that need to be addressed students and researchers who believe that "ordinary citizens fall short of the coherence of thought that a democratic politics requires." This book will be of most interest to upper undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers of political theory. VERDICT Important essays from one of the leading voices in political science research.—John Sandstrom, New Mexico State Univ. Lib., Las Cruces

Library Journal

For students of voting behavior, seeing Sniderman revisit and reinterpret these findings is interesting and refreshing.”—Choice

“Important essays from one of the leading voices in political science research.”—Library Journal

"Paul Sniderman is the real deal: a scholar who cares far more about pursuing the truth than he does about avoiding ruffling feathers. His views on citizen competence and tolerance highlight aspects of how people think and feel that have been largely ignored or marginalized over the last forty-five years. Read him to see the world differently—and more as it is."—Phil Tetlock, coauthor of Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction

"Paul Sniderman's deeply informed analysis of enduring questions in political psychology—regarding ideology, partisanship, racial attitudes, and the capacity for democratic citizenship—could not be more timely.  It provokes reflection and rethinking in the wake of fundamental challenges to our understanding of the American electorate."—Gary Jacobson, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at U.C. San Diego

From the Publisher