Democracy, Populism, And Truth

Contents......Page 6
Introduction: Conceptualizing Populism, Democracy, and Truth......Page 8
1 The Challenge of Defining Populism......Page 9
2 Populism and the Priority of the Popular vs. the True......Page 11
2.1 Populism, Truth, and the Press......Page 12
2.2 Populism, Truth, and the Emergence of Social Media......Page 17
3 Democratic Antidotes to Extremist Populism......Page 19
4 International and Historical Perspectives......Page 22
Part I: Conceptions of Populism......Page 25
1 Introduction......Page 26
2 Galston: Populism as Illiberal Democracy......Page 28
3 Some Criticisms of Galston on Populism and Democracy......Page 31
4 A Second Concept of Populism......Page 33
References......Page 38
1 Introduction......Page 40
2 Populism......Page 41
3 Democracy......Page 44
4 Democracy and Feasibility......Page 45
5 Conclusion......Page 49
References......Page 50
1 Responses to Populist Corruption Talk......Page 52
3 Populist Corruption Talk......Page 55
4 Corruption as Sloth......Page 58
5 Why We Should Talk More About Sloth......Page 61
References......Page 63
Part II: Truth and Democratic Discourse......Page 65
1 Introduction......Page 66
2 Epistemic Arguments for Democracy......Page 67
3.1 Understanding......Page 71
3.2 Truth Redux......Page 76
References......Page 78
1 Introduction......Page 80
2 Speech Is Being ``Chilled´´ All Over the Place......Page 82
3 What Is So Great About Free Speech Anyway?......Page 87
4 Unique Role for Universities......Page 89
References......Page 92
1 Introduction......Page 94
2 No Speech or More Speech? When Bad Speech Happens......Page 96
3 Our House, Our Rules: Some Recommendations......Page 100
References......Page 103
1 Introduction......Page 105
2 Pyrrhonian Balance......Page 106
3 Journalistic Balance......Page 107
4 Both Balances Compared......Page 108
5 A Pyrrhonic Effect of Journalistic Balance?......Page 109
6 Interesting Related Empirical Work on Polarization......Page 111
7 Conclusion......Page 112
References......Page 113
Part III: Social Media, Truth, and Justice......Page 115
1 Introduction: What Is Outrage Discourse?......Page 116
2.1 The Online Disinhibition Effect......Page 118
2.3 The Tendency Towards Righteousness......Page 119
3 The Background Social and Economic Conditions......Page 120
3.2 Changes in Demographics of Communities......Page 122
3.4 Diminishing Educational Opportunities......Page 123
3.5 Intergenerational Injustice......Page 124
4 Conclusion......Page 125
References......Page 126
1 Introduction......Page 128
2 Social Media Consumers as Epistemologically Vulnerable......Page 129
3 The Epistemological Power of Social Media Posters, Transmitters, and Approvers......Page 132
4 Epistemological Vulnerabilities and the Challenges of Addressing Them......Page 133
5 Content Regulation Through Law: Germany......Page 134
6 Limits to Legal Regulation: The United States......Page 135
7 Transparency......Page 138
References......Page 140
Part IV: Voting and Democracy......Page 143
1 Introduction......Page 144
2 Maine´s Experiment with Ranked-Choice Voting......Page 146
3 Reaction of Political Elites to RCV in Maine......Page 148
4 National Implications of Maine´s RCV Experiment......Page 152
5 The Courts and Electoral System Reform......Page 155
6 Conclusion......Page 158
References......Page 159
1 Introduction......Page 160
2 The Role of an Electoral System in a Representative Democracy......Page 162
4 The ``Representativeness´´ Criterion and Its Application to the FPTP Electoral System......Page 164
4.1 The FPTP System and the REP1 Criterion of Democratic Acceptability......Page 165
4.2 The FPTP System and the REP2 Criterion of Democratic Acceptability......Page 166
5 The Wasted Vote Problem and Gerrymandering......Page 167
5.1 Two Gerrymandering Strategies......Page 169
5.2 The ``Wasted Votes´´ Problem in FPTP Traceable to a Structural Feature of FPTP Itself......Page 170
5.3 Thought Experiments That Confirm the Structural Deficiency of FPTP......Page 171
6 Two Questions......Page 173
7 Concluding Remarks......Page 174
References......Page 175
Part V: American Democracy and Populism......Page 176
1 Populism......Page 177
2 `Passions Are Contagious´......Page 178
3 Subjective Confidence......Page 179
4 Conspiracy Theories......Page 181
5 A Practical Response......Page 182
6 Forms of Government......Page 183
7 Constitutional Stability......Page 186
References......Page 188
1 Introduction......Page 190
2 Populism......Page 191
3 The Wall: Understanding Trump Through Laclau and Schmitt......Page 193
4 The Truth in American White Nationalism......Page 195
5 Conclusion: Representative Democracy and Populism......Page 200
References......Page 203
1 Introduction......Page 205
3 How Are Americans Reacting to the Growing Inequality in Wealth?......Page 206
4 A Politically Plausible Possible Partial Solution......Page 207
6 A New Plan for an Expanded Program of Social Security......Page 208
7 Addendum......Page 213
References......Page 214
1 Overview......Page 215
2.1 Let´s Meet a West Virginia GIN......Page 218
2.2 Let´s Meet the SERTs......Page 219
2.3 Let´s Meet an Indiana GIN......Page 220
2.4 Let´s Meet a GIN Who Genuinely Benefitted from the Middle Class Tax Cut......Page 221
3.1 ``It´s Going to Be Easy, So Easy: Believe Me´´......Page 222
3.3 Offering Simplistic Explanations (Obviously Inadequate) for Complex, Multivariate Phenomena......Page 223
3.4 Steve Bannon´s Lunatic Proclamation......Page 224
4 The Lethal Synergy......Page 225
5 Why the GINs Cannot Quit Trump......Page 226
6 The Four Corollaries of the Apocalypse......Page 229
References......Page 230
Part VI: Populism and International Justice......Page 232
1 Introduction......Page 233
2.1 The Road to Parliamentary Reform......Page 235
2.2 Thomas Carlyle´s Opposition to Parliamentary Reform......Page 236
2.3 Mill´s Principle of Liberty vs Carlyle´s Principle of Work......Page 238
3 Carlyle´s Revenge: Conservative Populist Oppositionalism in Nineteenth Century Britain......Page 239
4 Something´s Afoot: Conservative, Populist Oppositionalism in Twenty-First Century America......Page 242
5 Undermining Conservative, Populist Oppositionalism......Page 244
6 Conclusion......Page 245
References......Page 246
1 Introduction......Page 248
2 African Challenges to the ICC......Page 250
3 Are the African Challenges to the ICC an Example of Populism?......Page 253
4 Conclusion......Page 257
References......Page 259