The Dilemma of Political Sophistication and Political Equality

If democratic government is “Government for the people, by the people, through the people” then the prospects for its full realization seem bleak: One of the most thoroughly and repeatedly documented fact about mass publics in existing democracies is that of a widespread ignorance about political matters, of a wide gulf in sophistication between the governing and the governed, and high variance among the governed. Since political sophistication and efficacy is strongly correlated with education and social status, especially citizens with lower status are disadvantaged in terms of political sophistication and efficacy, to the consequence that their voices are less heard by government. Consequently, government policy may become skewed in favour of the better-off. This raises several questions, such as whether genuine political equality is possible at all, how the political disadvantage of citizens from lower strata can be ameliorated, and whether changes in the media system have made it easier or more difficult to come to limitations of political sophistication. Such questions cannot safely ignored, if political science is expected to matter for the effectiveness of democracy. The workshop therefore aims to create the opportunity for a dialogue between all sub-fields of political science, a dialogue that includes normative political theory, comparative politics, political psychology and political sociology. is open to all scholars with an interest in the question of political sophistication and political equality from any theoretical, empirical and practical point of view.