"This is a deeply original and well-written book. The focus on conversations, combined with personal reflections and engagement with key theory, is valuable, personal and always feels intimate—rare in a book about something so abstract and distant as 'democracy.'"—Mark Deuze, author of <i>Media Life</i><br /><br />“Papacharissi brings her singular style to understanding today’s reeling democracy. <i>After Democracy</i> provides a blueprint for more engaged and creative communication research and more responsive and responsible governance.”—Adrienne Russell, author of <i>Journalism as Activism: Recoding Media Power</i><br /><br />“Derived from listening to citizens’ discontent with how they’re governed, Zizi Papacharissi ‘s<i> After Democracy</i> is a wise book on democracy’s unfilled promise, and how that promise can be more fully realized in the technological age.”—Thomas E. Patterson, author of <i>We The People: An Introduction to American Government</i><br /><br />“At a moment when the future of democracy is in question, <i>After Democracy</i> provides a much needed reflection on what we are truly ‘after,’ and how we might achieve it.<b>”—</b>Michael X. Delli Carpini, author of <i>After Broadcast News</i><br /><br />“A fascinating perspective on our current political, economic and communication crises, featuring citizen interviews from around the world. <i>After Democracy </i>offers insightful conclusions about how we can restore democracy.”—W. Lance Bennett, author of <i>News: The Politics of Illusion</i><br /><br />
Democracy has long been considered an ideal state of governance. What if it’s not? Perhaps it is not the end goal but, rather, a transition stage to something better. Drawing on original interviews conducted with citizens of more than thirty countries, Zizi Papacharissi explores what democracy is, what it means to be a citizen, and what can be done to enhance governance.
As she explores how governments can better serve their citizens, and evolve in positive ways, Papacharissi gives a voice to everyday people, whose ideas and experiences of capitalism, media, and education can help shape future governing practices. This book expands on the well-known difficulties of realizing the intimacy of democracy in a global world—the “democratic paradox”—and presents a concrete vision of how communications technologies can be harnessed to implement representative equality, information equality, and civic literacy.