Democracy, Populism, and Truth

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vi

   PDF

2. Introduction: Conceptualizing Populism, Democracy, and Truth

   • Richard Nunan, Mark C. Navin

   Pages 1-17

3. Conceptions of Populism

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-19

      PDF

   2. Two Concepts of Populism

      • Paul Warren

      Pages 21-34

   3. Democracy and Populism

      • Steven P. Lee

      Pages 35-46

   4. Corruption, Populism, and Sloth

      • Robert G. Boatright, Molly Brigid McGrath

      Pages 47-59

4. Truth and Democratic Discourse

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 61-61

      PDF

   2. Democracy, Truth, and Understanding: An Epistemic Argument for Democracy

      • John Capps

      Pages 63-76

   3. Free Speech, Universities, and the Development of Civic Discourse

      • Joan McGregor

      Pages 77-90

   4. Harm, “No-Platforming” and the Mission of the University: A Reply to McGregor

      • Lisa Fuller

      Pages 91-101

   5. Journalistic Balance, Unintended Pyrrhonism, and Political Polarization

      • Pierre Le Morvan

      Pages 103-112

5. Social Media, Truth, and Justice

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 113-113

      PDF

   2. Reflections on the Root Causes of Outrage Discourse on Social Media

      • Patrick O’Callaghan

      Pages 115-126

   3. Identifying Political Participants on Social Media: Conflicts of Epistemic Justice

      • John Francis, Leslie Francis

      Pages 127-141

6. Voting and Democracy

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 143-143

      PDF

   2. As Maine Goes, So Goes the Nation? Ranked Choice Voting and STV as Antidotes to Tribal Populism

      • Richard Nunan

      Pages 145-160

   3. Voting Without Voice: How Votes Can Be Counted Without Counting [or Democracy and the Wasted Vote Problem]

      • Alistair M. Macleod

      Pages 161-176

7. American Democracy and Populism

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 177-177

      PDF

   2. #ConstitutionalStability

      • Wade L. Robison

      Pages 179-191

   3. Populism, American Nationalism and Representative Democracy

      • Kenneth Henley, Paul Warren

      Pages 193-207

This book tackles questions related to democracy, populism and truth, with results that are sure to inform pressing academic and popular debates. It is common to describe many of today’s most energizing politicians and political movements as populist. Some are progressive advocates of greater economic democracy or individual rights, while others are recognizably authoritarian and anti-democratic, even while claiming to defend democracy. What all populist leaders share in common is a rhetorical approach: their ability to articulate, or at least profess to channel, the wishes of ‘the people’, a group that populist leaders claim a unique ability to understand and govern, especially with regard to their dissatisfaction with ruling elites. They decry corruption (although not necessarily with any sincerity), and they sometimes identify more mainstream politicians and bureaucrats as ‘enemies of the people.’ The rise of populist politics raises pressing questions about the nature of populism,but also about relationships between populism and democratic institutions. For example, is populism ever a democratic tendency, or does its invocation of a monolithic demos (‘the people’) signify a fundamentally anti-democratic worldview? Populist political rhetoric also raises concerns about the relationship between truth, democracy, and journalistic integrity. While the history of anti-democratic advocacy (famously illustrated by Plato) has often highlighted the tendency of a democratic style of politics to prioritize popularity over truth, the development of social media—and evolving norms of journalistic communication and public political discourse—raise these misgivings in new forms.

• Democracy and Populism
• Democracy and Truth
• Democracy and Voting
• Electoral Systems
• Free Speech and Truth
• Free Speech and Universities
• Social Media and Democracy
• Journalistic Balance
• Single Transferable Vote
• Social Media and Truth
• democracy

• Department of Philosophy, Oakland University, Rochester, USA

  Mark Christopher Navin

• Department of Philosophy, College of Charleston, Charleston, USA

  Richard Nunan

Mark Christopher Navin is Professor of Philosophy at Oakland University and Lecturer in Foundational Medical Studies at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. His scholarly work focuses on bioethics and public health ethics.

Richard Nunan is Professor of Philosophy, Affiliated Professor of Women’s & Gender Studies, and of Film Studies, at the College of Charleston. His primary research is in Philosophy of Law & Political Philosophy, Gender Studies, and Philosophy in Film.       

Policies and ethics