The Sentimental Citizen: Emotion in Democratic Politics

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Marcus M M  ฀sentimental฀    Emotion in Democratic Politics pe n n state press isbn฀0-271-02212-4 “George฀Marcus฀deserves฀thanks฀and฀praise฀for฀reminding฀us฀that฀emotional฀communication ฀and฀arousal฀are฀the฀lifeblood฀of฀politics.฀Leaders฀who฀ignore฀the฀primacy฀of฀ voters’฀feelings฀are฀doomed฀to฀failure.฀Voters฀and฀political฀scientists฀who฀imagine฀that฀politics is฀a฀question฀of฀purely฀‘rational฀choice’฀are฀bound฀to฀be฀astonished฀by฀what฀actually฀happens .฀To฀gain฀a฀better฀understanding฀of฀how฀our฀emotions฀shape฀contemporary฀politics,฀ this฀volume฀is฀must฀reading.” ฀ —Roger฀D.฀Masters,฀dartmouth฀college This฀book฀challenges฀the฀conventional฀wisdom฀that฀improving฀democratic฀politics฀requires฀ keeping฀emotion฀out฀of฀it.฀Marcus฀advances฀the฀provocative฀claim฀that฀the฀tradition฀in฀ democratic฀theory฀of฀treating฀emotion฀and฀reason฀as฀hostile฀opposites฀is฀misguided฀and฀leads฀ contemporary฀theorists฀to฀mis฀ diagnose฀the฀current฀state฀of฀American฀democracy.฀Instead฀of฀ viewing฀the฀presence฀of฀emotion฀in฀politics฀as฀a฀failure฀of฀rationality฀and฀therefore฀as฀a฀failure฀ of฀citizenship,฀Marcus฀argues,฀democratic฀theorists฀need฀to฀understand฀that฀emotions฀are฀in฀ fact฀a฀prerequisite฀for฀the฀exercise฀of฀reason฀and฀thus฀essential฀for฀rational฀democratic฀deliberation ฀and฀political฀judgment.฀Attempts฀to฀purge฀emotion฀from฀public฀life฀not฀only฀are฀destined฀ to฀fail฀but฀ultimately฀would฀rob฀democracies฀of฀a฀key฀source฀of฀revitalization฀and฀change. Drawing฀on฀recent฀research฀in฀neuroscience,฀Marcus฀shows฀how฀emotion฀functions฀generally ฀and฀what฀role฀it฀plays฀in฀politics.฀Marcus฀concludes฀that฀we฀should฀recognize฀sentimental฀ citizens฀as฀the฀only฀citizens฀really฀capable฀of฀exercising฀reasoned฀political฀judgment฀and฀ putting฀their฀decisions฀into฀action. “Why฀use฀a฀neuroscientific฀account฀to฀explain฀something฀as฀contextual฀and฀multifaceted฀ as฀political฀judgment?฀As฀Marcus฀persuasively฀argues,฀doing฀so฀allows฀us฀to฀examine฀the฀ domain฀of฀perceptual฀existence฀that฀isn’t฀fully฀conscious,฀yet฀is฀present฀in฀a฀way฀that฀ meaningfully฀influences฀our฀thinking฀and฀our฀actions.฀His฀analysis฀of฀what฀this฀means฀for฀ democratic฀politics฀is฀careful฀and฀intriguing.฀This฀nuanced฀account฀of฀how฀preconscious฀ emotions฀play฀a฀role฀in฀creating฀and฀sustaining฀the฀conditions฀for฀reason฀should฀be฀read฀by฀ all฀political฀scientists฀skeptical฀of฀citizen฀judgment.”฀ ฀ —Susan฀Bickford,฀university฀of฀north฀carolina George฀E.฀Marcus฀is฀Professor฀of฀Political฀Science฀at฀Williams฀College. political฀science฀/฀philosophy the฀pennsylvania฀state฀university฀press University฀Park,฀Pennsylvania฀|฀www.psupress.org ...