POSC340 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Natural And Legal Rights, Mass Society, Deliberative Democracy
22 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Politics: the currency of social life, a process, how we reach collective decisions from divergent opinions. Communication: creates meaning through symbols, strategic. Political communication is: public discussion about the allocation of public resources, official authority, official sanctions and social meaning, employed by elites, media, and citizens, utilizes words and symbols. Political communication in a democracy: democracy takes on different forms, classical greek direct democracy. But, impractical in mass society: democracy takes on different forms, liberal democracy. System of government which preserves individual liberties and disdains government intervention. Life, liberty, property, pursuit of happiness: deliberative democracy. Politics should not focus only on protecting the rights of individuals, but on discovering ways to enhance the collective good of society. Public journalism: emphasizes ways journalists can connect with larger communities in which they work, evaluating the concerns of the public over those of political elites.
