Robert Putnam’s important and disturbing work on civic participation (“The Strange Disappearance of Civic America,” TAP, Winter 1996) has led him to conclude that television is the culprit behind civic decline. But lest we be too disturbed, we ought to consider carefully whether the data adequately measure participation and justify his conclusions and whether his […]
Michael Schudson
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
Unsolved Mysteries: The Tocqueville Files
UNSOLVED MYSTERIESThe Tocqueville Files “What If Civic Life Didn’t Die?” by Michael Schudson“Unravelling From Above,” by Theda Skocpol“Couch-Potato Democracy?” by Richard M. Valelly Robert Putnam Responds
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Voting Rites: Why We Need a New Concept of Citizenship
In the primal act of citizenship, we face the ballot alone, face to face with our own ignorance.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The Limits of Teledemocracy
Some uses of the electronic media could enrich politics. Most recent proposals, however, are video games at best and Bonapartism at worst.
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
Delectable Materialism: Were the Critics of Consumer Culture Wrong All Along?
It takes an immigrant, or a Soviet visitor, to celebrate the culture of consumerism. Why, as a nation, are we so eager for material improvement, yet so skeptical of materialism?
