Corona, The Great Unmasking
Off the treadmill. Hamsters off their wheels. We had to stop. The Great Pause in which we would have not in a thousand years “indulged” ourselves, except for Corona’s visit, … Continue reading
Minipublics beyond representation
First posted on Equality by Lot on Oct 8 Now that minipublics are no longer limited to local level “experiments” but are regularly involved in consequential political occasions, constitutional amendments … Continue reading
Does the New US Political Spectrum Signal a Renaissance of Democracy?
Rather than a “crisis” of representative democracy as many journalists and academics have contended since November 2016, the recent opening up of the political spectrum in the United States and … Continue reading
How We Will Come to Appreciate Donald Trump
Sometimes the sense of external oppression acts as a challenge and arouses intellectual energy and excites courage. – John Dewey The United States will experience a significant economic boom over the … Continue reading
Structure Not Policy: Why We Need More Institutional Political Theory
For too long, I’ve been repeating the self-styled slogan “structure not policy, tomorrow not today” to express the idea that has haunted me since I began studying law. Nearly every … Continue reading
Citizens’ Initiative Reviews: Democracy via Vicarious Deliberation?
Although there has been much talk (or rather speculation) in deliberative democracy circles on the potential and possible pitfalls of “intensive” citizen deliberation–especially on Equality by Lot–there has been little … Continue reading
Debugging the System
A review of Manuel Arriaga’s Rebooting Democracy [A] long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficial appearance of being RIGHT. Thomas Paine, Common Sense Rebooting Democracy … Continue reading
A Lesson for Michael Moore
[and Noam Chomsky too!] Multimedia is rare on Fila Sophia but the occasion is special. Without looking for conspiracies or evil-doers, without cinema gimmicks, this 45-minute documentary (French with English … Continue reading
The Citizen Jury Illustrated: The Morris Climate Dialogue
A “Citizen Jury” means to embody the informed, face-to-face deliberation of an ideal democracy, not found either in elections or in legislative debates today. Below is a photo illustration of … Continue reading
Family & Polis
A review of Kennan Ferguson’s All in the Family This book follows the “contestation” line of political theory, exemplified by William Connolly, Chantal Mouffe, or Bonnie Honig, that owes much … Continue reading
An alternative to campaign-finance reform?
[First appeared on openDemocracy on April 22, 2014.] The still fresh McCutcheon v FEC Supreme Court decision, like the January 2010 Citizens United, has again set off the rage of … Continue reading
The Geist of Tahrir & Occupy
[First appeared Feb 10, 2014 on Truthout. Begin there with comments.] The Tahrir Square Revolution turns three this week and Occupy Wall Street follows soon. They both manifested a tangible … Continue reading
Easier to Vilify Team Owners than Question Society’s Complicity
[First appeared Feb 4, 2014 on Truthout/Speakout. Look for comments there.] Taking advantage of the Super Bowl hype, Mother Jones magazine re-publicized an article “Offensive Lines: How Bad Is Your … Continue reading
Review of Democratic Reason: Politics, Collective Intelligence, & the Rule of the Many
This book follows the recent trend in democratic theory termed “epistemic democracy” in a novel way. Rather than rely on liberal philosophy or an analogy with science, it begins with … Continue reading
The Neo-Athenian Revival
[Appeared April 2 openDemocracy. Ideas first appeared Jan 20, 2014 Truthout.] A recent Economist article “What’s Gone Wrong with Democracy” is chock-full of photographs of discontent from places in revolution—Ukraine, … Continue reading
Citizen Reviews and Brand Gov
[Appeared as “McDonald’s, Hollande and Future Gov” Nov. 26, 2013 on Truthout. Look for comments there: http://bit.ly/BrGoTr%5D McDonald’s now serves espressos, lattes, smoothies, ice cream, and, yes, even salads. On … Continue reading
The Mideastern Roots of Modern Democracy
[First appeared May 26th Daft Blogger. More on humility soon.] Is it possible that it was not the rediscovery of Greek thought that brought equality, human rights and democracy to … Continue reading
Equality & Political Ecology: From Spinoza to Politdoche
Feeling and ideas are renewed, the heart expands, the human spirit develops only through the reciprocal action of human beings on one another. Alexis de Tocqueville Referring to the prevalence … Continue reading
Redeeming Rousseau: Politdoche & General Will
Recently on Daft Blogger I fell hard on the word “government” and offered a replacement, “politdoche.” This article demonstrates why it fares better as an ideal and how it would … Continue reading
Is the word “government” the problem?
“The wise know that foolish legislation is a rope of sand…that the state must follow, and not lead, the character and progress of the citizen.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Our prejudices … Continue reading
Gonyea’s “Mr. Tillerman’s World”: Our Trembling Tyrants Within
Art is by nature polysemic, the more so the more engrossing. Political art especially needs to pose multiple questions in order to keep our interest. If the questions can be … Continue reading
Remembering Mubarak: Tahrir, Zuccotti, & Future Democracy
Today marks the two-year anniversary of Hosni Mubarak’s departure. At the end of 2011, Time’s Person of the Year was “The Protester,” and the issue was wrapped in Tahrir Square. … Continue reading
Squaring The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street
“Democracy is the safest of all states.” Aristotle (Politics) Aristotle can be dismissed as a racist, misogynist, or xenophobe. He may be all those and a dry writer, but few … Continue reading
Open Letter to Muslim Brotherhood & Egyptian Opposition: A Way Out: Minimal Elections Maximal Participation
Dear Brothers and Sisters of the MB and NSF (National Salvation Front), Below is a way forward and perhaps an opportunity for Egypt to become a model for new democracy … Continue reading
Fila Sophia 