Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- 1 Introduction
- PART ONE SOME PROBLEMS WITH DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS AND TRENDS IN THEIR EVOLUTION
- 2 Demobilized and Demoralized: Negative Ads and Loosening Bonds
- 3 Turning “Citizens” into “Consumers”: Economic Growth and the Level of Public Discourse
- 4 Economic and Cultural Prerequisites for Democracy
- 5 Civil Society and the Contemporary Social Order
- PART TWO MORALS IN POLITICS
- PART THREE SOCIAL CAPITAL
- PART FOUR THE ROLE OF CONSTITUTIONS
- Index
- References
3 - Turning “Citizens” into “Consumers”: Economic Growth and the Level of Public Discourse
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- 1 Introduction
- PART ONE SOME PROBLEMS WITH DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS AND TRENDS IN THEIR EVOLUTION
- 2 Demobilized and Demoralized: Negative Ads and Loosening Bonds
- 3 Turning “Citizens” into “Consumers”: Economic Growth and the Level of Public Discourse
- 4 Economic and Cultural Prerequisites for Democracy
- 5 Civil Society and the Contemporary Social Order
- PART TWO MORALS IN POLITICS
- PART THREE SOCIAL CAPITAL
- PART FOUR THE ROLE OF CONSTITUTIONS
- Index
- References
Summary
There is little hope that the Italians will achieve a state of prosperity and internal calm until they start to be more interested in the respective merits of cornflakes and cigarettes than in the relative abilities of their political leaders.
American official, 1947 (quoted in Mazower, 1998, p. 308)Individualism, at first, only saps the virtues of public life; but, in the long-run, it attacks and destroys all others, and is at length absorbed in downright egotism.
de Tocqueville, Second Book, chapter II (p. 620, [1835] 2000)INTRODUCTION
Gathered around a big table, a company consisting mostly of young adults produces much noise and fury. They are arguing about some, in the big scheme of things, inconsequential legislation proposed in parliament. There is much talking past each other, the stentorian voice of the conversation's would-be monopolist, the repetition of cliches from the mass media, but also much wit and belly-laughs. After the company's break-up, discussions linger at home, in some cases threatening domestic tranquility. Bits of the topic are picked up at subsequent gatherings in which new controversies might emerge as the center of argument. Newspapers and magazines, aware of the underlying demand, provide plenty of both serious and lightweight fodder for argument in such gatherings.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Rational Foundations of Democratic Politics , pp. 30 - 43Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003
References
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