Search Results

This chapter explains the centrality of controlled and ordered conflict to American democracy, as both normative and descriptive matters. It explores the fallacies in the various versions of the "common good," pointing out how pursuit of personal values and interests has controlled the American political process.

This chapter outlines the goals and purposes of the book. It explains that while democratic theory and free expression have often been intertwined by scholars, the version of democratic theory most appropriately tied to free expression is adversary democracy, rather than the communitarian or collectivist theories usually employed by constitutional theorists.

This chapter explains the inherent paradox of adversary democracy-namely, how the theory can simultaneously represent skepticism about the motivations of citizens and value speakers' promotion of their self-interest because of the manner in which it advances core values of liberal democratic theory.

This chapter explains that speaker anonymity may well undermine the values of adversary democracy, because in light of the inherent self-interest of the speaker, it is essential that the listeners know the identity of the speaker so that they may discount the force of the expression in light of the speaker's self-interest.

Disenchantment with democracy may have different sources. One such source is the discrepancy between the expected advantages of the system and the experience with real democracy. In our research, we found that these expectations depend on lay theories of democracy that may differ substantially from its normative conceptions and practical realizations. Another source is the change in social priorities that can be described as a conservative shift. This change is a reaction to an increased sense of existential and epistemic insecurity that entails higher preferences for strong government founded on tradition and a shared worldview. It is associated with decreased importance of political agency and pluralism. There is also disappointment with democratic politics based on adversarial principles, in which those who gain political advantage shape the political and social relations according to their own interests and points of view, ignoring the interests and views of others.