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Political Literacy and the Persistence of Democracy

Citizenship
Democracy
Knowledge
P338
Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski
University of Leipzig

Building: VMP 5, Floor: 2, Room: 2197

Saturday 16:00 - 17:40 CEST (25/08/2018)

Abstract

Liberal democracy is under attack from within. Political scientists discuss these attacks as symptoms of “democratic backsliding” and “democratic deconsolidation”. Remarkably, the acts of eroding liberal democracy are justified by the claim of recovering the power of the people. In other words, the disdain for liberal democracy is articulated, pushed and justified on behalf of the people. Thus, a central question arises: Does “the people” really understand what is going on in their very name? This question is in line with a long tradition of political thinking about the subjective underpinnings of democratic rule. One branch of research has been focused on the citizens’ cognitive requirements and their political knowledge, in particular. Other researchers speak of citizens’ „political literacy“, even though often in a vague manner and ambiguous way. Referring to Giovanni Sartori, we argue that political literacy is more than technical knowledge about how political institutions work and who is in power right now. We believe that political literacy is quite different from political knowledge. Whereas the latter can be described as a resource, the former could better be defined as a combination of skills. The resistibility of liberal democracy, so our argument goes, depends on citizens’ political literacy rather than their political knowledge. In order to substantiate this argument, we need however to clarify the concept of “political literacy”, validate its significance and empirically analyse its impact on mass political attitudes and behaviour. Accordingly, the panel is a point of departure for the questions above. It is interested in both theoretical and empirical contributions on political literacy and its importance for hard-wearing liberal democracies.

Title Details
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Political Literacy – Concept and its Relevance for the Explanation of the Persistence of Liberal Democracies View Paper Details
Political Literacy in Classical Democracy: A Theoretical Perspective View Paper Details
Democracy Belief Systems in Europe: Cognitive Availability and Attitudinal Constraint View Paper Details
A Matter of Political Sophistication? The Relationship Between Political Performance and Political Trust Reconsidered View Paper Details