Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 3-21 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | European Journal of Political Research |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |
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Fast Thinking: Implications for Democratic Politics. / STOKER, Gerry; Hay, Colin; Barr, Matthew.
In: European Journal of Political Research, Vol. 55, No. 1, 2016, p. 3-21.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Fast Thinking: Implications for Democratic Politics
AU - STOKER, Gerry
AU - Hay, Colin
AU - Barr, Matthew
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - A major programme of research on cognition has been built around the idea that human beings are frequently intuitive thinkers and that human intuition is imperfect. The modern marketing of politics and the time-poor position of many citizens suggests that ‘fast’,intuitive,thinking in many contemporary democracies is ubiquitous. This article explores the consequences that such fast thinking might have for the democratic practice of contemporary politics. Using focus groups with a range of demographic pro?les, fast thinking about how politics works is stimulated and followed by a more re?ective and collectively deliberative form of slow thinking among the same participants. A strong trajectory emerges consistently in all groups in that in fast thinking mode participants are noticeably more negative and dismissive about the workings of politics than when in slow thinking mode. A fast thinking focus among citizens may be good enough to underwrite mainstream political exchange, but at the cost of supporting a general negativity about politics and the way it works. Yet breaking the cycle of fast thinking – as advocated by deliberation theorists – might not be straightforward because of the grip of fast thinking. The fast/slow thinking distinction, if carefully used,offers valuable new insight into political science
AB - A major programme of research on cognition has been built around the idea that human beings are frequently intuitive thinkers and that human intuition is imperfect. The modern marketing of politics and the time-poor position of many citizens suggests that ‘fast’,intuitive,thinking in many contemporary democracies is ubiquitous. This article explores the consequences that such fast thinking might have for the democratic practice of contemporary politics. Using focus groups with a range of demographic pro?les, fast thinking about how politics works is stimulated and followed by a more re?ective and collectively deliberative form of slow thinking among the same participants. A strong trajectory emerges consistently in all groups in that in fast thinking mode participants are noticeably more negative and dismissive about the workings of politics than when in slow thinking mode. A fast thinking focus among citizens may be good enough to underwrite mainstream political exchange, but at the cost of supporting a general negativity about politics and the way it works. Yet breaking the cycle of fast thinking – as advocated by deliberation theorists – might not be straightforward because of the grip of fast thinking. The fast/slow thinking distinction, if carefully used,offers valuable new insight into political science
KW - Democracy
KW - cognitive science
KW - deliberation
KW - anti-politics
U2 - 10.1111/1475-6765.12113
DO - 10.1111/1475-6765.12113
M3 - Article
VL - 55
SP - 3
EP - 21
JO - European Journal of Political Research
JF - European Journal of Political Research
SN - 0304-4130
IS - 1
ER -