A rather unsurprising observation, given the latest evidence. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003 17:13:40 -0600 (CST) From: Premise Checker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [>Htech] WP: Leave-Us-Alone Democracy
Leave-Us-Alone Democracy http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A8766-2003Jan31?language=printer Unconventional Wisdom from the Outlook section Sunday, February 2, 2003; Page B05 Ask some political reformers to offer a cure-all for what ails politics, and they'll prescribe some version of the '60s bromide "Power to the People!" Well, it turns out that the people don't want more political power -- and many would prefer less, say University of Nebraska political scientists John R. Hibbing and Elizabeth A. Theiss-Morse. Based on the results of a national survey, the researchers concluded that nearly half of us would prefer that the government's most significant decisions were made by "experts" or "business leaders" rather than by politicians or -- heaven forbid -- the average citizen. The two professors found that democracy alternately bores people silly or upsets them in a fingernails-across-the blackboard, cellophane-crinkling sort of way. "They want democracy -- they just don't want to see it," Hibbing said. "They don't want to see debate. They don't want to see compromise. They don't want to see multiple issues dealt with at the same time." What most Americans say they want is an unobtrusive, well-behaved, low-demand brand of politics that these researchers call "stealth democracy," which is also the title of their newly published book (Cambridge University Press) summarizing the results of a Gallup national survey and eight focus groups that Hibbing and Theiss-Morse conducted. In both the survey and group discussions, most people "expressed no desire to learn more about the issues, to get involved themselves or be kept more abreast of these issues," Hibbing said. "They're happy to turn it over to others." (There are, of course, a few exceptions -- the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks or war with Iraq among them, he said.) In the poll, respondents were asked if the country would be better off if decisions were left "to successful business people," and one-third agreed. Then the respondents were asked if the country would be better off if political decisions were left to "unelected experts," and again, a third agreed. All told, nearly half -- 48 percent -- said "yes to one or both of these items, which suggested to us a less than committed attitude to accountability and representative democracy," Hibbing said. The professors also found that most of those surveyed hate it when the two major political parties go after each other on major issues -- sort of the political equivalent of children's aversion to seeing their parents argue. In one study Hibbing cited, participants were divided into three groups. One read a description of a heated political debate; the second read a description of a "pleasant" debate between politicians, and the third group read a description of a political discussion in which the politicians weren't disagreeing. "Of course people preferred the pleasant debate to the heated one. But even more significant was that most preferred no debate at all," Hibbing said. "People prefer their politics to be neat, clean and nonvisible." But wait a minute. Didn't he and his research partner also find that 84 percent of those interviewed had said the people want to claim more power for themselves through initiatives and referendums? Well, yes, Hibbing said. "What they told us is that they still wanted those mechanisms to be there, in case there is a major issue that affects their lives." But until then, politicians shouldn't bother knocking. "We are not taking the line that people are incapable of engaging in politics," Hibbing said. "The truth is, they don't want to." [snip]
