The Voice of the People; Public Opinion and Democracy

by James S. Fishkin; Expanded to include a new Afterword

• ISBN13: 9780300072556
• ISBN10: 0300072554
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 1997-08-25
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Philosopher and political scientist James Fishkin evaluates modern democratic practices, explains how the voice of the people has struggled to make itself heard in the past and combines a review of ideas and experiments--including his own idea for a National Issues Convention that was adapted by PBS in January 1996--to legitimately rediscover the people's voice.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Magic Town	p. 1
Who Speaks for Me?	p. 7
Out of the Cave?	p. 13
New Beginnings	p. 17
A Voice from Rhode Island	p. 26
What Should Representatives Do?	p. 30
The Most Natural and Simple Idea	p. 33
Counting People Equally	p. 35
Deliberation: Thinking Through the Issues Together	p. 40
Participation	p. 44
Avoiding Tyranny: The Energy That Reforges Democracy	p. 49
Small-Scale Democracy	p. 54
The Founders' Vision	p. 57
The Anti-Federalist Dissent	p. 60
"Like a Burglar": Informal Processes of Reform	p. 64
Bryce's Prophecy: Government by Public Opinion	p. 71
Gallup's Answer	p. 76
Opinions and Pseudo-Opinions in the Echo Chamber	p. 80
A Rational Public?	p. 84
The American Process: A Machine That Transforms Itself	p. 90
Whose Declaration of Independence?	p. 97
All Men? From Douglass to Lincoln versus Douglas	p. 101
From Paper Rights to Voting Rights	p. 110
The Quest for Voting Equality	p. 113
The Declaration of Sentiments	p. 122
Whose America? How Do We Come to Support It?	p. 126
America's Town Meeting of the Air	p. 134
Toward Civic Engagement	p. 141
Airing the People's Agenda	p. 154
The Deliberative Poll: Bringing Deliberation to Democracy	p. 161
Appendix: The First Deliberative Poll: Summary of Results	p. 177
Notes	p. 183
Index	p. 197
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