Abstract
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
Original language | English |
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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 |