Is Telling Stories Good for Democracy? Rhetoric in Public Deliberation after 9/11

Polletta, Francesca; Lee, John

doi:10.1177/000312240607100501

Cited by 208 publications

(198 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Again, however, it is important to emphasize that ICT-assisted deliberative fora ought not replace party branches as the central venues for deliberation. The main reason is that the evidence on the ability of online discussion fora to promote reasoned and meaningful exchanges among citizens is very mixed, ranging from very promising (Polletta and Lee 2006;Price 2006) to rather disappointing results (Coleman 2004;Smith et al 2013; for a comprehensive review of the recent literature on online deliberation, see Steiner 2012). Thus, parties should be cautious with overemphasizing ICT-driven deliberation, and see it more as a complement rather than a substitute for face-to-face deliberation.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Crisis of Party Democracy, Cognitive Mobilization, and the Case for Making Parties More Deliberative

Accetti

Wolkenstein

2017

Am Polit Sci Rev

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The much-discussed crisis of political parties poses a challenge to democratic theorists as institutional designers: how can the capacity of parties to mediate between society and state be resuscitated? In this paper, we suggest that parties need to become more internally deliberative, allowing partisans to debate policy and more general visions for the polity. We outline a prescriptive model of deliberative intra-party democracy, drawing on the empirical literature on the changing structure of civic and political engagement. We argue that deliberative reforms are the most appropriate response to the demands of an increasingly more cognitively mobilized citizenry which seeks self-expression and non-hierarchical forms of political engagement. We highlight the model's distinctive strengths and defend it against several objections.

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confidence: 99%

The Crisis of Party Democracy, Cognitive Mobilization, and the Case for Making Parties More Deliberative

Accetti

Wolkenstein

2017

Am Polit Sci Rev

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“…This value for participation and inclusion can be seen in recent scholarship on both organizational forms (Baiocchi, 2005;Baiocchi, Heller, & Silva, 2008;Polletta & Lee, 2006) and styles of leadership (Aminzade, Goldstone, & Perry, 2001;Diani, 2003). Arguing that participatory discourse is the foundation of democratic legitimacy, Polletta and Lee (2006) highlight a widespread interest in democratic organizational forms and processes. Such commitments are difficult to sustain, especially if bureaucracy formalizes leadership in ways that engender oligarchy (Ferree & Martin, 1995;Freeman, 1972;Giugni, McAdam, & Tilly, 1999;Lee, 2007).…”

Section: The Iron Law and Cultural Repertoiresmentioning

confidence: 91%

Managing Democracy in Social Movement Organizations

Choi-Fitzpatrick

2014

Social Movement Studies

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Leaders are crucial to social movement mobilization and maintenance. They often experience conflict between a value for inclusive engagement and a sense that they are moving efficiently toward their organizations' goals. This study draws on a multisite ethnography to suggest two mechanisms through which leaders may resolve this conflict: staging (manipulating organizational procedures) and scripting (using language to reinforce these procedures). Resolving tension in this way often leaves the leader in control of organizational processes and outcomes, and has the unintended effect of stifling the actual process of democratic participation. This study emphasizes the culturally embedded inertia of the democratic ideal and highlights a particular set of tactics for democracy management. It is proposed that these mechanisms might be helpfully applied to a growing literature on inclusive engagement in contemporary associational forms as well as a range of other institutional contexts.KEY WORDS: Democracy, culture, norms, oligarchy, organizations, inequality, strategy Organization is often thought to be a process that terminates in elite control. Yet leaders of small social movement groups are often torn between institutionally embedded demands for organizational efficiency and culturally embedded values for inclusive engagement. Social movement scholars note a steady emphasis on inclusion and consensus in the groups they study (Ferree & Martin, 1995;Polletta, 2002Polletta, , 2006. Groups preferring inclusive strategies often lack political and economic resources, relying instead on the strength of their claims and the validity of their organizational processes to establish and maintain legitimacy (Rothschild & Russell, 1986). However, rising expectations -from both individual members and the public -pressure most organizations to demonstrate efficiency (Meyer & Rowan, 1977).I draw on ethnographic fieldwork to suggest that movement and organization leaders may experience countervailing pressure between a culturally embedded value for inclusive engagement and institutionally embedded demands for organizational efficiency. Although this sort of tension was popularized decades ago (Meyer & Rowan, 1977), most of the work in intervening years has focused on oligarchy in non-bureaucratic organizations (Hallett, 2010;Leach, 2005). Ethnographic fieldwork thus provides an opportunity to better specify the ways broader cultural values shape group contexts, which in turn shape what is locally possible (Eliasoph & Lichterman, 2003).

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“…By sharing a new identity with others, the individual not only gets feedback, but those others can also aid in coproducing a more conceivable version of the identity by supporting particular features, adding new information, and facilitating the establishment of middle ground (Boje 1991;Conroy and O'Leary-Kelly 2014;Ibarra and Barbulescu 2010;Polletta and Lee 2006). Role models are a particularly important source of social validation for an alternative work identity Ibarra 1999;Pratt et al 2006).…”

Section: Discipline Following Open Identity Playmentioning

confidence: 99%

Entrepreneurial Cognition

Shepherd

Patzelt²

2018

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Is Telling Stories Good for Democracy? Rhetoric in Public Deliberation after 9/11

Cited by 208 publications

References 68 publications

The Crisis of Party Democracy, Cognitive Mobilization, and the Case for Making Parties More Deliberative

The Crisis of Party Democracy, Cognitive Mobilization, and the Case for Making Parties More Deliberative

Managing Democracy in Social Movement Organizations

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