Overview

In our modern world of propaganda, social media enclaves, misinformation, and manipulation, the connection between ""the will of the people"" and political action has broken down, political divisions are becoming increasingly intractable, and democracies are growing ever more ungovernable. Democracy is in crisis. In Can Deliberation Cure the Ills of Democracy?, James S. Fishkin argues that deliberative democracy can have surprisingly positive effects on all of these problems and charts a unique path to fixing them with his method of Deliberative Polling. After decades of applying and perfecting the methods of deliberative democracy in countries all over the world, this book synthesizes the results of 150 applications and shows how the method can be applied to resolve many of democracy's seemingly intractable challenges. It can clarify the public will and depolarize our divisions. Fishkin demonstrates that deliberative democracy is a practical solution if applied widely and lays out a vision for how to combine elections with deliberation to build a more deliberative society, one that cures our extreme partisanship and leads to substantive dialogues that foster mutual respect and more engaged voters. Deliberation provides a story of thoughtful empowerment and democratic reform, strengthening but not replacing our current institutions.

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James Fishkin holds the Janet M. Peck Chair in International Communication at Stanford University where he teaches communication and political science and directs the Center for Deliberative Democracy. He is author of a number of books, including Democracy and Deliberation, The Dialogue of Justice, The Voice of the People: Public Opinion and Democracy, and Deliberation Day (with Bruce Ackerman). His Deliberative Polling process has been conducted in countries ranging from China and Bulgaria to Denmark, Britain, Australia, Italy, Hungary, and the US. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford and the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. He has also been Visiting Fellow Commoner at Trinity College, Cambridge. He holds both a PhD in political science from Yale and a PhD in philosophy from Cambridge. Sean Runnette, a multiple AudioFile Earphones Award winner, has produced several Audie Award-winning audiobooks. He is a member of the American Repertory Theater company and has toured internationally with Mabou Mines, an avant-garde theater company. Sean's television and film appearances include Two If by Sea, Copland, Sex and the City, Law & Order, Third Watch, and lots and lots of commercials, for which he apologizes. Sean Runnette, a multiple AudioFile Earphones Award winner, has produced several Audie Award-winning audiobooks. He is a member of the American Repertory Theater company and has toured internationally with Mabou Mines, an avant-garde theater company. Sean's television and film appearances include Two If by Sea, Copland, Sex and the City, Law & Order, Third Watch, and lots and lots of commercials, for which he apologizes.

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