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Democracy, Populism, and Truth

  • Book
  • © 2020

Overview

Editors:
  1. Mark Christopher Navin

    1. Department of Philosophy, Oakland University, Rochester, USA

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. Richard Nunan

    1. Department of Philosophy, College of Charleston, Charleston, USA

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Offers a groundbreaking approach to the relationship between populism, democracy and truth
  • Deals with pressing questions about the nature of populism
  • Addresses the relationships between populism and democratic institutions

Part of the book series: AMINTAPHIL: The Philosophical Foundations of Law and Justice (AMIN, volume 9)

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Table of contents (18 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vi
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  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
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    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

  5. Social Media, Truth, and Justice

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 113-113
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    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

  7. American Democracy and Populism

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 177-177
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    2. #ConstitutionalStability

      • Wade L. Robison
      Pages 179-191

    3. Populism, American Nationalism and Representative Democracy

      • Kenneth Henley, Paul Warren
      Pages 193-207
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Keywords

About this book

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.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Philosophy, Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Mark Christopher Navin

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

    Richard Nunan

About the editors

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.       

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