Fay Lomax Cook, Michael X. Delli
Carpini, and Lawrence R. Jacobs
Abstract
Much contemporary analysis of American democracy
sounds the alarm that citizens are retreating from the process
of electing government officials, influencing the legislative
process by which government policy is made, and engaging in other
forms of civic and political life. This paper addresses an important
and understudied outlet for political engagement by citizens:
the various ways—from informal conversations to deliberative
forums—in which individuals talk in public about policy
issues affecting the local, national, and international communities
in which they live. We report findings from a national sample
of 1,501 adult Americans describing the extent, distribution,
and correlates of what we call “discursive participation.”
We conclude that such participation occurs more frequently than
assumed and that while there are notable variations in participation,
it appears that discursive participation may be less directly
stratified by income than other forms of political and civic engagement.
Our organizational and political model of public deliberation
largely attributes discursive participation to organizational
membership and political interest and knowledge. We conclude by
suggesting that public talk may be one dimension of political
and civic life that exhibits an energetic, inventive, and vital
citizenry.
Fay Lomax Cook, Professor of
Human Development and Social Policy; Director and Faculty Fellow,
Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University Michael X. Delli Carpini, Professor of Communication;
Dean, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania
Lawrence R. Jacobs, McKnight
Land Grant Professor of Political Science, University of Minnesota
Click on
the working paper title at the top of this
page to download a free pdf of the paper.*
If You Need to Order a Hard Copy: Hard copies
of IPR working papers cost $5.00 each (international orders are $10 each). We only accept checks drawn on U.S. bank and payable in U.S. funds. Checks or money orders should be made
payable to Northwestern University and sent to the following address:
Publications Department - WP Orders
Institute for Policy Research
2040 Sheridan Rd., Evanston, IL 60208-4100.
For information, call 847-491-8712 or email ipr@northwestern.edu.
Please note that we do not accept credit cards.
*Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 (or higher) is needed to read the Acrobat pdf.
If you need to install Acrobat Reader, click the button below. Once the file
has downloaded onto your desktop, run it to install the reader on your hard
drive.
