Week 1: Rhetoric and Democracy

As reality television glorifies unsavory behavior and Fox News masquerades as a "fair and balanced" source of information, the contribution of American popular culture to the well-being of society seems to be on a steady decline. Yet, there exists symbiotic relationship of understated importance between the rhetoric of popular culture and democratic governance--the welfare of one hinging on the prosperity of the other. In other words, American popular culture, and the often surprisingly intellectual discussion surrounding it, are invaluable to the survival of the United States as a democratic nation, regardless of the apparent breakdown in quality.

In his critically acclaimed book On Democracy, Robert A. Dahl (1998) identifies five criteria necessary to a democratic society: (a) effective participation, (b) voting equality, (c) enlightened understanding, (d) control of the agenda, and (e) inclusion of adults (p. 37-38). Of these five, effective participation and enlightened understanding may flourish in the light of popular culture. According to Dahl, effective participation requires that citizens have "equal and effective opportunities for making their views known" to other members. Enlightened understanding, on the other hand, deals with the availability of "equal and effective opportunities for learning" about pertinent issues, proposed plans of action, and other potential solutions. 

One of the best ways to cultivate an enlightened and involved citizenry is through exposing citizens to, and allowing them to create, alternative sources of information. In the book News: The Politics of Illusion, W. Lance Bennett (2009) laments the tendency of prominent news sources to project an air of authority by framing stories around accounts  delivered by key government officials. By doing so, Bennett notes, mainstream news sources tend to communicate little more than the official government line. Like evaluating a product based solely on claims made by the company's public relations and advertising departments is likely to yield an incomplete picture of the product's potential, relying solely on official government statements is an undoubtedly flawed strategy for achieving enlightened understanding. In much the same way that consumer reports supplement and circulate customers' understanding of products, popular culture supplies citizens with a great variety of ways to enhance their understanding of their country and the world, and contribute to that of others.

Through music, television, satire, literature, and commentary, citizens are exposed to alternative media and sources of information. For example, social-activist and musician David Rovics comments on foreign policy (When the fat men in their mansions say that you don't want peace/ Did you wonder what they mean/ As you sat amidst the stench inside the darkness/ In the shattered city of Jenin) and a plethora of other social issues like freedom of speech (Francoise Ducros lost her job as Director of Communications.../ When she had the gall to say what was very clear/ Something everybody knew which they didn't want to hear) and religion (And you proclaim your Christianity/ You proclaim your love of God.../ Well I've just got one question.../ Who would Jesus bomb?). 

According to Bennett (2009), there are a several qualities missing from mainstream news sources that are desirable from a democratic standpoint. Two such features are the analysis of how political decisions are reached and the inclusion of historically contextual information (p. 26).  Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert host satirical news shows, aired on weekly Comedy Central. By virtue of their well-researched critical analyses of government activities and their exploration of the context surrounding each situation, the two are often accused of being more useful sources of information than mainstream, non-comedic sources.

Literature, too, makes an important contribution to citizens ability to understand and affect civic issues. In his 1906 novel entitled The Jungle, Upton Sinclair exposed the disturbing, unappetizing conditions of Chicago's meat-packing industry, resulting in the passage of the Meat Inspection and Pure Food and Drug acts and the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. Other pieces of literature contribute to the discussion of relevant issues less directly. J.K Rowling's Harry Potter series, for example, has inspired the publication of a wealth of articles that use the already-popular themes in her books to frame discussions of race-, wealth-, gender-related issues. 

Without the democratic value of free speech, none of these sources of information or means of participation would be possible. And without the rhetoric popular culture, the nation would be deprived of valuable and attractive alternative sources of information. The rhetoric of popular culture and the democratic governance of the United States are connected, with the well-being of one lending itself to the ability of the other to flourish.

References

Bennett, W. L. (2009). News: The politics of illusion. New York: Pearson Education.

Dahl, R. A. (1998). On democracy. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Photo Credits

Portland Independent Media Center (2005). Retrieved from http://portland.indymedia.org/en/media/image/newswire/archive112.shtml

Tyler Woods (2010). Retroflections. Retrieved from http://tucsoncitizen.com/retroflections/2010/07/24/reality-tv/